A Turian and his Human
by EchoDrift
Summary: Tag along with FayLynn Daye and the crew as she embarks on a mission with Commander Shepard to take down the rogue Specter Saren. This fic follows the story line of the first game and keeps true to the characters while adding her story, or at least I hope it does. We don't see a lot of down time with them in the first game so I tried my best, please check it out and leave comments!
1. Chapter 1

_**This chapter, along with chapters 7 and 8, have had grammer/punctuation fixes as well as background info fixes like how long she had been trained and how her memories work. Sorry for the problems!**_

* * *

Ahh, nothing like the fresh smell of vomit, alcohol and sweat to wake you up...seriously. I was woken up for this. I mean, isn't it enough to have three C-sec guards down there? And why did they have to call me in? Oh well, I was close anyways so I might as well clean up the other dumb ass's mess.

As I walked in to Chora's Den I made a face. Several patrons were rushing past me, there were a few knocked out cold on the floor, and over in the corner I saw three guards wrestling with a krogan. How lovely. These idiots could never handle krogan without it turning into a full-blown fight. I took out my stun baton and sighed as I made my way towards the group, making sure to set the amps up to as high as they would go, and cleared my throat loudly.

"S'cuse me gentlemen, am I interrupting a date night?"

The two C-sec officers that had been getting their own asses handed to them were thrown aside as I spoke, the remaining one turning his head as did the krogan hoisting him in the air, both of their expressions unamused. I mean, on a personal not I had thought it was a good little intro line myself, but let's not make it all about me I guess.

"It was just a question no need to look so defensive. Now, Mr... angry? I'm just going to call you angry. I need you to put the officer down and raise your hands up where I can see them, nice and slow if you don't mind."

"Ha! Of course, and while I'm at it I think I'll pummel you like the rest of these puny human guards."

Why did it always have to be about the human thing? Just because we looked soft and fleshy didn't mean we couldn't pack a hell of a punch, I was a great example of that. He tossed the officer aside and started to charge towards me, and if you haven't been in the path of a charging krogan trust me, it's intimidating. They always thought that running head first towards their problem would solve it, unfortunately for him I was anything but an ordinary problem. And before he could run me flat I stepped aside and jabbed out with my baton, hitting the krogan in the least armored part of his body and shocking the living hell out of him before sending him hurtling towards the ground. He hit a few chairs and smashed them to pieces making him grunt in pain.

"You guys should have really been listening at orientation all those years ago, these things really do work wonders!" My voice was filled with self confidence and I knew that my eyes were sparkling with a hint of triumph already. I liked to get ahead of myself at times.

I received a chorus of groans and grunts in acknowledgment and I kept my eyes trained on the krogan who was standing back up, brushing off pieces of debris from his armor before charging once more. Was this the only plan he had? His thudding footsteps shook the floor the closer he got, eyes full of that famous rage that his species was known for and a look that said 'I want to pummel your ass into the ground'. Just for me? How thoughtful.

Making sure that my footing was stable I continued to let him get closer, so close that if I had been one second slower than I would have been ground into a heap of meat; but just as his body was about to connect with my own I launched myself into the air and above his head. With the help of biotics of course. The look of surprise on his face nearly made me lose it right then and there, but I had a job to do. So while he was still underneath me I focused all of my strength and honed in my biotics into a powerful charge that sent me crashing back down into his body. Thanks to the barrier I had around myself I came to no harm, the krogan on the other hand...he may have needed some work done after that.

"Urrrggh...auuuuuhhh."

Carefully avoiding the cracked flooring and few blood splatters I stepped off of the unconscious colossal alien and put away my baton, sighing as I looked around at the wreckage that was Chora's Den. Oh well, maybe when they fix it up they can get rid of the garish floor pattern. It always made me dizzy when I looked at it. I tapped the button on my ear piece to activate my mic.

"This is C-sec officer FayLynn requesting a pick up. I've got three officers down, a handful of bar patrons and one big ugly krogan, over."

The static of the comm hit my ear as I called in the scene and reported the end result. Everything that wasn't relevant to anybody was relevant to C-sec; what time was it? How many tables and chairs got crushed? How many times did you tell them to stop? What color underwear are you wearing?...ok maybe not that last one but the idea is pretty clear. They were just way too thorough about everything and it was annoying.

"Officer this is C-sec acknowledging your request, back up is en route."

Alright, that about wraps it up and ties a sweet bow on it- oh shit! I forgot something. A smirk pulled one side of my mouth up and I tried not to chuckle as I commed C-sec once more.

"Oh and uh base, do me a favor?"

"What do you need?"

"Tell Vakarian that I just pulled ahead by 50 points."

After the last transmission I took the earpiece off and pocketed it, seemed that it wouldn't do any harm since my day was over. My steps were quick and my spirit light as I made my way to the locker rooms of C-sec and began to change out of my uniform. I had gotten over the stigma of appearance way back at the academy. It made no difference to me whether or not other girls approved of how I looked, but there was one thing that still seemed to pluck my nerves just a bit when mentioned.

"Nice ears freak!"

"I think I saw a few mice running around, better get to work cat!"

Yep. That was it right there. My eyes traveled up to look into the mirror that I now stood in front of and it made me want to smash it to pieces. There I was, a towel wrapped around my mid section, medium length wavy dark brown hair adorned a heart shaped face, wide and bright emerald green eyes...cat like ears poking out of the top of my head. And then there was also the tail.

Believe it or not having unnatural appendages that set you apart from every other human didn't make you popular, it turned you into a roadside freak show. As I sighed with the change in my chipper mood, having it now dip down towards hurt, my feet turned my away from the mirror just as my ears lay flat against my head. Having these things was just a reminder of what I used to be a part of.

A disgusting organization of human only activists that for the life of me I couldn't remember the name, and the nightmares reminded me of the worst moments of my time there. The members were cold hearted and sickening to be around from the glimpses that I got, especially when they would begin to talk about wiping out the other species; but none were as bad as their leader. Even though I had worked for them for about six years I had never been able to figure out who he really was...no one had. And whenever I tried to remember it set my head into a fit of pain. It was almost as if it didn't want me to remember.

My hand numbly turned the shower on and let the flow of warm water wash over my body, taking away the stress of the day but not the nagging thoughts that swirled around in my mind. One day I would get revenge for what he did to me, what he turned me into. How sick and twisted did you have to be to torture a child and turn her into a monster just to test out a new type of mutant? I sighed heavily and closed my eyes as I let the shampoo rinse out of my hair, careful not to get any in my eyes. Maybe it was meant to be. Maybe I was meant to carry this burden so no one else had to.

It could have been fate that it had happened to me considering it was my past that pushed me so hard to become the agent that I was today. Sure, it could have saved me from a dark life or it could have ripped me away from a completely normal one. I couldn't remember a single thing past my first time waking up in a cell, but that would never excuse it. Never. With that thought stuck in my mind I hurried and finished washing up before grabbing my civilian clothes and slipping out to the walkways, hoping that by the time I got dinner at the house and had a glass or two of wine sleep would be just a few steps away.

* * *

Patrol. More like walking the line of boredom and suicide. I do my job and stop all the 'bad guys' like stupid Pallin asks and this is the thanks I get? Not even a day off? Pfft, see how hard I work now. Apparently, he had read the report I turned in about the incident at Chora's Den and deemed it an inappropriate approach to the situation, therefore putting me in the nice cozy spot of these lovely patrols around the zero activity places. But I suppose it wasn't all bad, it was near all the food kiosks anyways so if I got hungry I had a fine selection laid out before me.

Along with the enhancements from my former employers they also gave me a mean appetite that took a good bit of food to sate. As I walked the perimeter I let my eyes scan around the room lazily, the same room they had scanned so many times before and have rarely seen anything of interest here. But as I was scanning the room my eyes did catch something, a glint over by one of the plants near the elevator. I walked towards the object and as I got closer my interest piqued. I could make out a symbol of some sort, but most of it was covered in something dark and rough.

As I stopped in front of the object and bent down to pick it up, I felt a strange sensation run through my body, almost like a small electrical shock. I wanted to drop the strange seemingly metal insignia but my hand only tightened around it, like it meant something.

"Why do you have a tail? Are you some weird mutant?"

"Huh what?"

I turned around a bit startled and looked down at a seemingly adorable asari child. Her wide blue eyes were staring directly at my tail and she seemed mystified by it. It was always the kids.

"Oh my tail, well...It just popped up one day."

"Did you go to the doctor?"

"Yes."

"What'd they say? Are you sick?"

Another sigh escaped me and I slipped the metal pin into my pocket so I could focus on not sounding like an ass, especially to a kid. They always had to ask all these annoyingly absurd questions and poke their nose into other peoples business; though I suppose that was how they learned what to and what not to do.

"No he just said I have a tail now. That's it."

"Oh...what about your ears?"

"Is your mom around kid, or is someone watching you?"

"Maybe...so do you have regular ears too-"

"Naila there you are! I am so sorry officer, she slipped away while I was buying us some lunch." The asari mothers tone was apologetic and I could see how she scolded her child by just looking at her with slight impatience. Kids do that to you.

"It's alright ma'am, she's very sweet. Just be a bit more careful and have a nice day."

I couldn't help but smile as they pair walked off. Children could drive you mad with questions but they were just full of so much wonder, their minds absorbing every and anything around them like a sponge. I wonder if I was like that with my mom... As I let my mind wander off into wonderland I continued my walk around the area, not paying attention to anything in particular and the odd pin was forgotten about in my pocket. It wasn't a huge surprise when I ended up bumping into a tall and armored chest, effectively pushing me back and onto the floor with a thud. Unfortunately for me and thanks to some terrible luck, my fall resulted in my body landing awkwardly on my tail. There was no hiding the tears that sprang to my eyes and the agonizing pain that flashed through my body.

"Sweet spirits and dammit all to fuck!"

"Watch where you're going pig, next time it won't be that tail that's hurtin. Freak."

Even though I was C-sec it didn't mean that everyone on the Citadel gave me respect, in fact, it sometimes attracted unwanted attention from some of the nastier clientele that visited here. None the less the scowl on my face was less then intimidating considering seeing as I was now in a great deal of pain. As the man whom I had bumped in to began to walk off I quickly grabbed a hold of his wrist and used the force to hoist myself up. There was no way this ass was getting away with this, especially since he had to add that little bit about calling me a freak. My tone was severe and threatening as I narrowed my green eyes and spoke.

"Excuse me sir but show a bit of respect to an officer if you don't mind."

"And I suppose you want me to listen right? Look, I have a thing goin on that I need to get to and I don't see any other cops with a problem so **move**."

He advanced a bit closer, not at all intimidated by me, and I tried not to back down or show that he was affecting me. Guys like him only thrived off of weakness and fear. My hand removed itself from his wrist and moved towards the pistol that was carefully strapped to my outer thigh whilst my eyes continued to follow his every move, noting how he had also moved his hand towards something on his person. But suddenly he seemed to stop moving forwards and look at something behind me. I didn't have a chance to move as a solid armored body was suddenly pressed against my back, pushing my probably broken tail at an uncomfortable angel and making me wince and clench my teeth.

"Having a problem here Officer? I was sent to relieve you from patrol but I clearly see a problem with this gentlemen in front of you. Does he need to be restrained?"

I recognized the voice but I made no move to turn around, now was not the time to say hello. The sneering man in front of me glared at the other C-sec officer before grunting and striding off, shoulders hunched and muttering curses under his breath. I hadn't realized that I was holding my breath until I finally let it go. Had I been that scared? It wasn't until the person, well turian, behind me spoke up and broke my concentration. In that moment I was also reminded of my injury.

"Having some problems lately with thugs? Didn't think you would've backed down so easily."

"Yeah I guess, would you please move away from my tail Vakarian?"

"Oh sorry. Did something happen?"

I'm assuming he figured it out by the pain laced in my voice and the way I cradled the injured appendage. My tail was bent at an odd angle and was extremely sensitive to the touch, it seemed to hurt by my hand merely hovering over it. Garrus moved closer to examine it but I hissed and bared my teeth when he barely even touched the fur near it. I didn't do so well with examinations. He simply ignored my warning and rolled his eyes before continuing to question me.

"What the hell did you do to it? Looks broken."

"I didn't do anything. That jerk made me fall back on it. Ouch!"

He had tried to touch it once more but I pulled away again, not wanting to inflict further pain upon myself. It wasn't that I didn't trust Garrus, hell, he was the person...er turian...that I trusted the most out of anybody. He kept me grounded when things got impossible to deal with and when there was something I needed to get off my chest he was always there to listen.

I wanted to deny the connection I felt with him as being anything else but friendly, but at this point there was no use. Ever since we had become inseparable at the C-sec academy my feelings had grown for him every day. Now as an adult I had to face the realization that I had feelings for my best friend...but I wouldn't, couldn't, ever tell him that. There was no way he could ever feel the same about a human. Was I even considered human anymore?

"We need to get you to the med clinic."

When he spoke it grabbed my attention once more and conveyed that he wasn't going to hear any excuses. This wasn't something that he was going to let me slide on so easily no matter how convincing I sounded. Eh, might as well try.

"I can just make sure it's set and wrap it myself, I'm not helpless."

"Doctor. Now."

The way he stared me down and the tone of his voice shut me up, he didn't seem in the mood for any games today. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Pallin had our schedules changed so that we no longer worked the same shift. He had switched me to night shift at Chora's Den and Garrus to the Medic Center. So even when I wasn't patrolling I had to go hang out at the slut hut and wait for him to finish up. I used to be an Agent and my usual job was to go undercover, but a recent situation had put me on suspension so I was put back to patrols.

Garrus took a hold of my arm, his grip firm but not painful, and proceeded to walk me towards the elevator that led to the med clinic, not saying a word on the ride up. I fiddled with a strap on my armor as we both stood silently; it was always so awkward to listen to the ads and music that played in the damn elevators. Maybe the people funding them thought they did some type of good, but I would pay a handful of credits myself to just tell them that they just made things even more awkward. My turian friend tapped his foot impatiently on the floor of the elevator as we ascended into the wards area, each passing moment seeming to stretch on forever. As soon as the doors opened he ushered me out and into the med bay where Dr. Michele was quietly checking her inventory, but when she looked up and saw Garrus her eyes seemed to light up. Weird.

"Garrus, what can I do for you." I recognized that light tone and airy look...this woman was trying to act all cute with him. I wasn't buying into it.

"I need you to inspect my fellow officers...tail. If you could. She seems to have injured it on the job."

"I can speak for myself thank you very much. Agent FayLynn Daye, pleased to meet you.

He seemed to avoid saying my name, not that I really cared but it was almost intentional. Like we were just co-workers instead of friends. She nodded and with a smile had me sit on her medical table while she grabbed a few supplies. I never really liked going to the doctor or going to get checked up, just made me feel like I was under a microscope while fingers got to prod and poke at me without mercy.

"Now I need to feel all the way down your tail, tell me when it hurts then I can go from there."

I simply nodded in agreement and looked towards the crates that were on my left, trying to distract myself and think of something else. I could feel the odd texture of her gloved hands as they made their way down from the tip of my tail, she would apply light pressure and move it before continuing on. When she was about no more than 3 inches from the base I felt it, a sharp pain followed by a bit of nausea. I hissed and bared my teeth once more like I had with Garrus, trying to move away as she continued to feel the spot. She was probably trying to make sure it was definitely broken before she would align the bones but I really didn't care, I just wanted to lay down and sleep this day off already.

"Please try and sit still, I know it hurts but I have to straighten it out before I wrap it up."

"Wait can't you give me something before you- **Fuck!** "

The very angry sounding curse was spat from between my clenched teeth as the 'good doctor' didn't hesitate to take a firm hold of the sensitive area and snap it back to its correct shape. She was lucky my temper was so well in check or she would have lost an eye...or both.

I watched through narrowed eyes as she wrapped my tail in some bandages and then put a type of protective cast over the spot, making sure that it wouldn't be moved and it could heal properly. I know that they both meant well but I really wanted to tell them that I heal quite a bit faster than most humans, due to my...condition. But as I turned to say something I saw that Garrus and the doctor had blown me off and struck up a conversation; both had a smile on their faces and neither seemed to notice or acknowledged me as I stepped off of the table. Well aren't they the cozy little couple?! Why was I so irritated though? It wasn't like it mattered to me or not, it's good that Garrus is...out there, mingling with some females...I guess. If I wasn't going to make a move then it was only fair that someone else did.

"And so she comes in with her crying child, doesn't know what's wrong and expects me to fix it. I knelt down in front of the child, sweet little girl, and whispered to her nice and soft. 'If you tell me what's wrong, the boo boo's will go away. And you'll get a lolli.' She immediately stops crying and gets patched up."

"Well you are wonderful with children Michele, do you ever plan on being a mother?"

"Of course I do, it just takes the right person."

Or the right turian in her mind, she better not try anything or she's going to need a doctor herself. No no no, I am not jealous...just cranky. I watched on at the two for another moment before grunting and moving towards the door of the med bay, stopping only for a moment as I heard Garrus question me.

"Where are you going?"

"Home. Sterling needs to be fed and my shift is over for the day. Talk to you later." I threw the words over my should, not wanting to actually turn around and look at the both of them as I spoke.

"Oh, alright. See you later then."

He had almost sounded as if he were hurt, but I really couldn't care less in that moment. I just wanted to get away from anything having to do with relationships and wrap myself up in my blankets until I couldn't see anything. With that last thought I let the door close behind me and walked into the elevator towards the transit area. Hopefully a good nights rest would do me well. The transport cars were fairly empty I noticed as I took one to where my apartment resided in the upper levels of the Citadel. Not that I would have minded being in a lower class area, but I wasn't going to complain. They kept it nice and tidy and always made sure that the area was free of any garbage, then in return I would make sure it was free of trouble.

"Now stopping at Omniway apartments. Have a nice day."

I literally could not stop my eyes from rolling and the scoff that followed as I stepped out of the tram and began my walk to my home. Always had to have those annoyingly cheerful voices everywhere I went didn't they? Luckily it was only a minute walk till I reached my front door and as I opened it and stepped in a feeling of calm washed over my being, my own smells surrounding me and making me feel secure and safe. Nothing would ever compare.

Sterling! I'm home!"

Nothing. Hm, that was odd for him. Usually he would have been all over me by now considering I've been gone all day. I quietly walked past my living room and entered the small kitchen, the light automatically coming on as I did so, and peered at the usual hiding spots that he liked to occupy. Where the hell was he at?

"Sterling c'mon. Mama had a hard day, can't she at least spend some time with you?"

My voice was halfheartedly raised as I walked back to the living room and sat on the couch, legs sprawled out and head leaned back. Though I was careful to position my tail so I wasn't leaning any weight on it. The dull ache telling me that it was in the process of healing and repairing itself slowly but surely. Minutes ticked by without anything so deciding that it was time for bed I forced my body off the couch and trudged on towards my bed; almost immediately falling onto the soft and plush surface with an exasperated sigh. My eyes were nearly closed as I had begun to drift off when there was a sudden light weight that made itself known on my back.

 ***Chirp***

"Oh, so you wanted to ambush me huh? You little sneaky devil you. C'mon, it's time for bed."

I felt Sterling's paws kneed my back momentarily before jumping to land in front of me as I sat up and began to undress, his blue silver fur shining and his four orange eyes blinking at me adorably while his two tails flicked around friskily. Every time I looked at him it just amazed me of what was out in the galaxy just waiting to be found.

It had been my third mission as an agent and my target was located in the Sentry Omega cluster on the planet of Virmire. It reminded me of Earth in a way and when I had been tracking down the fugitive there the beauty stunned me, even a midst all the fighting and war there was still life moving on. Long story short after I completed my task on the way out I happened upon a small group of what we now call Nalpas.

They were what seemed to be an odd reptile/feline based species that grew to about half the size of a regular golden retriever, had two pairs of eyes that were one color and held no pupils, two scaly lizard-like tails and a second set of eyelids that blinked like that of a lizard. It had been quite the surprise after I had left the planet and found him scurrying around the ships deck, chirping at everybody and causing a racket. I had grabbed a piece of meat from the mess hall and coaxed him in to my room where he calmed down and then fell asleep on my bed. The original plan had been to bring him back, but something told me that he was with me for a reason. Now, almost two years later, we're inseparable and I couldn't imagine life without him.

And now, as I lay on my back with my soft and purring companion next to me and a mound of soft pillows supporting my head, I knew that today was just like any other day and it had finally come to an end. There would be those days that made me want to pull out my hair and bash my head, and there would be moments that would make me wonder why I was still even working at C-sec, following the hair brained idiots that ran the show without enough knowledge of the show itself. But no matter what, everything would always fall into place just like it always has even if it wasn't entirely clear at first...right? For some reason the more I thought about everything that had happened today the less content I became. The other women in the locker room, nurse Michele with Garrus, remembering my time with that organization...it just continued to drag me down.

It wasn't like everyday I was tormented by these thoughts. I had the type of outlook that said the past was the past so why dwell on it, but something just made my skin crawl with irritation and agitated my body to the point where I had to finally get out of bed, disturbing Sterling as I did so and earning a very disgruntled growl.

"Shut up. I'm going to sit on the couch so don't wait up for me, okay?"

"Mrrrow"

A smile was almost brought of me at hearing his light little noise. Usually it did the trick, but tonight was just one of those nights when it just wasn't enough. As I walked past the familiar stand beside my couch I opened up the small drawer and took out an all too long forgotten journal; the pages were worn and the spine was bent from being opened so many times. The texture was just the same I noted as my fingertips ran over the cover slowly, relishing in the feeling of comfort-and slight relief- that having this book in my hands brought. So many nights I would turn to this as a reprieve from life, a way to escape the stares and the words that used to be relentlessly thrown my way. When I thought 'why bother?' I would just read my past thoughts and think about how far I've come, some of the memories reminding me about why I was here.

"Guess it's time for a new entry..."

In the low light of the living room I picked up my favorite pen that had 'Eternity' etched into the side, smiling now as I remembered the importance of the object, and began to write. Letting the anxiety, the stress and the build-up of anger that had been inside flow onto the paper; not bothering to hold back all the words my mind had to offer.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Alrighty, here is chapter 2. I'm sorry if these first few chapters are a little too short for your liking, I will try to lengthen them in the future. Please enjoy and leave your reviews, and remember, I do not own anything Mass Effect besides my own characters!**_

* * *

There were usually at least three strikes until a day was ruined so I took it as a bad sign that I had already reached two by the time I reached C-sec to get my station for the day. To start off the morning I had woken up not late, but **early** , about 2 hours early to be exact. Then I couldn't even go back to sleep. Finally giving up I had gotten out of bed and fed Sterling while he chirped impatiently and bounced around my feet, nearly tripping me and causing me to curse when my toe smacked in to one of the chairs. This in turn caused me to curse like a sailor and slam his food on to the table without thinking so that I could nurse my wounded appendage, all the while being careful not to disturb my now healed tail. The only indication that it had been hurt being the slight soreness it now held.

"Dammit all to hell Sterling really!" My voice didn't hold the rage I had wanted so instead of invoking fear the trouble making animal merely blinked at me before jumping up, placing his paws on the table and looking at his food longingly. Of course he wouldn't be worried about me.

"Here. Bastard." I placed his food where he usually at, a small table that accommodated his height, and then limped off to the bathroom to being my usual ritual; though this morning was a bit different. Instead of stripping down and hopping in to the shower like I usually did I started with taking the ridiculous cast off of my tail. It had begun to weigh it down and was making it difficult to lift. Then I began to run the water for a hot bath considering I had the time and relaxed for about half an hour before getting out, getting dressed, starting the water for a vanilla chai tea and grabbing a breakfast consisting of: five eggs, two pieces of toast, six strips of bacon and a small glass of orange juice. The juice had an odd after taste to it, but I really hadn't expected much considering it had come in powder form at the store.

After enjoying a filling meal I then poured the now ready tea into a travel mug and checked the time, sighing as it read 7:45. Time to go already? Such a shame.

"Bye Sterling, mama loves you. Be a good...animal." I received a little chirp in response and it made me smile before I closed the door to my apartment, making sure to pull out my ear buds as I did so and placing them in the correct positions on my ears. Early on in my life after leaving my previous 'employers' I quickly figured out that regular headphones would not work for me so I ordered specially made ear buds. The clipped on to the sides of my ears, without hurting them, and covered them almost like a type of mask. The material that covered them blocked outside noise so that I could enjoy the music to its full extent just like everybody else.

As the soft lilting of a piano occupied my mind and let my thoughts drift off in to calmer, more enjoyable places I boarded the transit headed for the C-sec offices, not bothering to give a second glance to the people that stared. Sure every now and then I would get the odd teenage girls that would squeal and shove these weird comic things into my face; 'mangas' I think they were called. They would go on and on about how I looked like the characters in their books with cat ears and how it was such a mysterious and attractive look. The girls even had fake ears and tails of their own. So many times I had wanted to tell them that I wished mine were fake like the ones they had purchased, but I would simply smile and nod instead. Not wanting to ruin their fantasies. I didn't want to be that bad guy that told them how I had to constantly file down my nails because they grew in to points, or how I sometimes cut my lip or tongue on my sharpened canines. Or maybe they would enjoy hearing about the excess hair patch that was around the base of my tail.

No, no, just play nice and you'll be at work soon. I just chanted that mantra to myself until my stop finally came and as soon as the doors opened I bolted out and headed straight for Pallin's office to get my assignment; all too eager to begin my work day. As I entered the quiet room, the only sound being the typing of the computer that the Executor was currently working on, I tried not to seem impatient. Unfortunately judging by the way the head of Security sighed and stopped what he was doing I hadn't been doing a good job of it.

"Chora's Den."

"Sir?"

"You're on patrol at Chora's Den today, try not to make a mess of it this time. Cleaning up after you can be tiresome Daye." Really? He was going to let me back on regular patrols just like that? Something must have put him in a good mood today. Feeling a little lucky I decided to try and get a little more out of my boss before I headed off; I kept my tone light and casual as I spoke to him.

"So...hear anything about my suspension recently?" He stalled momentarily before continuing typing, his mandibles flaring only slightly. "Hm? Oh, it is currently under review and you should be briefed on it within the week." Yes! The only downside was not being able to have anyone to talk to while I worked, but it was a start. With a much more positive outlook on the rest of my day I drained the rest of the tea from my mug and left the office quietly, heading for my locker to grab my weapon and the rest of my equipment before making my way to Chora's Den.

* * *

"So what's a sweet piece a tail like yourself doin here?"

"Shut it Harkin."

"Boss split you two up didn't he? Can't hang off your lover turian anymore huh? Sucks for-"

That's it. It was bad enough that the bar was out of my favorite liquor and with Harkin's smart ass mouth added to the mix? Not a good combination. I whipped around and held my pistol directly under his chin, pushing his head up at an uncomfortable angle and making him grunt. This bastard just didn't know when to shut the hell up did he?

"Shut. Up. Harkin."

Each word was emphasized as I pushed the barrel further up each time. He seemed to get the idea after that and as I let him go he held his hands up as if surrendering, then made his way back to the bar for another drink. He was the definition of rock bottom to me. How depressed could you get to where all you did was hang out at a sleazy bar and drink yourself to death? There was nothing lower in my opinion. I looked around the bar for the hundredth time that night to make sure nothing had changed, there was nothing more boring than watching Chora's den honestly; though I reminded myself it was a slight step up from the markets. At least I could slip in a drink every now and then. My hand jerked slightly as I tapped my fingers against my thigh to try and pass the time. What time was it now?

I activated my omni-tool and looked at the time, the clock read 10:30. Was it that early still? Maybe I could see if Garrus was up...or maybe he was with Dr. Michele. Even though it was a few days ago my attitude was still soured by the whole event. It really wasn't any of my business but I just didn't like the thought of those two hanging out alone. After some deep thought I decided against my bitterness and commed Garrus anyways to ask him to head down and keep me company. At least that way I wouldn't get sucked in to talking to Harkin again.

"Garrus this is Fay, wanna come down to Chora's Den and get a drink? It's on me."

It was a few moments before I received an answer, his voice was a bit lower than usual and it held a tired rasp. He sounded as if he hadn't slept in days.

"Hey Fay, I'm a bit busy right now. I've been trying to dig up as much as possible on Saren so my case seems presentable, but the bastard doesn't leave much. And Pallin doesn't like me trying to get him in trouble as it is. It's just...there's something about that Specter that isn't right."

"Garrus you need to relax a little, just meet me down here to talk at least. No butts about it." I made sure to sound adamant and stern since I knew that he had been working way too much. Everybody needed a few hours off from time to time.

His answer was filled with resignation and slight relief; the sound brought a smirk to my face."...alright."

I knew he had been working himself up with that case against Saren again. While I had admitted that something was fishy about the turian specter there was pretty much little to no evidence to convict him of anything, so what was the point? Sighing heavily I made my way to the bar and grabbed a seat before ordering two drinks, making sure his was dextro safe. Garrus wouldn't resist the drink if it was already set up, that and as I said before it was free so who wouldn't take it? Sure enough no more than 5 minutes later he walked in, sat down beside me, and downed his drink just like I thought he would. My eyes tried to pry in to his own and see what he was thinking, but the low lighting of Chora's Den made the task near impossible so I settled for some lighthearted banter instead.

"Well hello there my tired turian friend. Now I was almost positive that you said you didn't want to drink?"

"It was here so why not, and I never said I wouldn't drink." He grumbled the answer out, but I still received a small smile as well.

I smirked and ordered another round, downing my first one before the bartender brought the other ones over. The night progressed much the same as it started, a few drinks here and there then a few words were swapped. Sometimes they were jokes and sometimes they were harsh words about how Garrus was going to take down Saren for disgracing his race. I tried to keep my wits about me but it was only a few minutes until shift change, so why stop now? My voice was barely slurred as I spoke, but my mind was in a little bit of a haze and my thoughts were swimming in the alcohol. Trying not to think about how I was on the clock still and how much trouble I could get in I began to shower my friend in compliments.

"Wow, have I ever told you how brave you are? I mean, standing up to Saren and Pallin. It's just so cool."

"You don't mean that, c'mon. It's just...I don't know I guess I am pretty cool huh?" Garrus sounded more off his ass than I did and it took all of my dwindling control not to tease him about being a lightweight. We both started laughing uncontrollably, a few snorts escaped me and I covered my mouth while blushing. My first thought was to throw back another shot but my hand was stilled as Garrus reached out to stop me.

"Why are you covering your mouth? I like your laugh, don't cover it up."

In a mere second all the playfulness was gone as he reached out and took hold of my hand, his grip was soft and as he pulled it away his mandibles flared out in a smirk. I had always thought that Garrus was attractive, even if he was a turian, but they way he did it just made my heart melt. He continued to hold my hands softly even after they had settled back in my lap. The warmth his own hands continued to put out was comforting and had a homey feeling.

"There, that's better."

"I uh..."

My face began to heat up even more, and it wasn't from the alcohol. I tried to look down towards the ground but I feared that if I did I would fall off of my stool, this was getting a bit too intimate for me. Even with my head swimming with slight drunkenness I couldn't help but shake the feeling that he was being serious and it wasn't just the alcohol talking.

"Hey, you can head home now shifts over."

I must've jumped nearly two feet out of my seat as I heard the voice of Trace, the other officer who had the next shift. Way to ruin a moment Trace. Both my own and Garrus's hands retreated back to our own bodies so quickly that the other c-sec officer probably didn't even see that they had been together. Not that I minded really, but I didn't want to have to explain anything. With an awkward smile I stood up off of my stool and took a few steps back to try and regain some personal space.

"Oh uh, thanks Trace. I need to go get some rest so I'll uh, see you tomorrow Vakarian?" I just called him by his last name to try and keep some semblance of professionalism between us.

Garrus nodded and rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he stood as well, albeit a bit more unsteady that I did. Obviously we both let the liquor go a bit too far. It was about time we departed, went our separate ways and slept it off.

"Yeah, ok. See you tomorrow Daye. Meet me in the Citadel tower after 1."

I smiled and waved to both men before making my way to the transport and going back to C-sec to deposit all my gear before heading home. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, especially if I had a hangover.

* * *

12:45. I suppose I should head to the tower now so I was there at 1 even though Garrus said after 1. But I wasn't going to listen. I groaned as I took a few pills for my hangover and slipped into a comfortable jumpsuit before heading out, making sure that Sterling had plenty of food and water before doing so. My feet felt heavy and my eyes were slightly squinted to keep out most of the rays from the artificial sun. I always felt that the Citadel was too fake and stuffed with bureaucrats who always had their noses turned up. Everyone always wanted to exploit or gain something from somebody else. It was pretty much a kill or be killed situation. Sighing and shrugging off the slightly depressing thought I made my way to the small kiosk by the transit to grab a drink; considering I hadn't felt like making one myself this morning it was like a godsend.

"Um, one chai tea please with extra milk." The kiosk owner nodded and went to make my drink as he read off the total.

"That will be five credits please." His tone was short and cordial, pretty normal for a Salarian I suppose. The way they spoke never really bothered me, but it did make me wonder if it ever got them in to trouble; especially with krogan. As I confirmed the transaction on my omni-tool and scanned it over the payment machine the Salarian had finished making my drink and handed me the hot beverage with a smile. I made sure to nod and smile back before saying 'thank you' and heading off to the transit, sipping from my tea as I did so and relishing in the warm feeling as the drink made its way down my throat and into my stomach.

I waited about thirty seconds before the next transit opened up and I boarded the car, enjoying how empty it was inside. Sometimes you just wanted to have a transit car all to yourself. No more than five minutes after I got on the transport vehicle slowed to a stop and opened its doors once more.

"Now stopping at the Citadel Tower, have a nice day." I rolled my eyes at the fake enthusiasm in the announcers voice. Why did everything have to sound so happy? I walked out of the tram at a slow pace and headed towards the fountain, my footsteps a rhythmic thud a midst the quiet of the tower. At this point my headache was now gone and I was no longer squinting, but apparently that hadn't meant that I could see properly. In the action of walking and not paying attention to where I was going I suddenly bumped into a solid mass and stumbled backwards a bit. Thankfully my drink was pretty much gone so none got spilled.

"Oh I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." My eyes immediately honed in on the black haired man standing before me with an apologetic smile on his face. His brown eyes shone with immense kindness and for some reason the word pushover came to mind as I continued to stare.

"That's ok, I probably shouldn't have been standing in the middle of the steps anyways. Names Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko."

"Officer FayLynn, or Agent, whichever you prefer."

"Wait, Agent Fay? I heard about your mission that took down that red sand ring here at the Citadel!" Enthusiastic guy wasn't he? I was almost tempted to take a step back as his voice rose in his excitement but fought the instinct and gave him a sheepish smile instead, trying not to seem rude. Not many people usually greeted me like this let alone recognized me.

"You heard about that? It really was nothing, I did have a lot of help from my fellow officers." It was actually that very mission that had put me on suspension from my position as an Agent, but I didn't let that slip. No need letting that little tid-bit of information get around.

He looked as if he wanted to say something more, but a stern female voice called from a distance and he got a look of embarrassment on his face.

"Sorry, I have to go. Maybe I'll see you around."

I smiled and nodded as he jogged off, what a nice man.

"You going to ask him on a date now?"

"Wha?..."

I turned to see Garrus walking towards me with a smirk. Obviously he watched that little exchange between me and the Lieutenant.

"He was just being polite and saying hi. You jealous?"

"Of course not, why would I be jealous?"

I shrugged and let my eyes wander aimlessly around the room, taking in all the detail and luster. They really put some thought into this place when they made it, the beautiful pink-red petals of the cherry blossom trees contrasting with the shining silver-gray walls. I guess I must have been lost in thought because I suddenly found myself being shaken.

"You in there Sunshine?"

"What? Yea i'm here, just got lost in thought I suppose."

Ever since we became friends at the academy Garrus had taken to calling me Sunshine as a play on my last name, Daye. No one else would ever be able to get away with that. I took a hold of one of his spikes and tugged a bit to make a point, not that I couldn't do it without that but it was fun.

"Who was that guy with, do you know? His name sounded familiar."

"What the Lieutenant? Oh yeah he's here with Commander Shepard, she just came back from the mission on Eden Prime and is trying to convict Saren of involvement. Hopefully she'll have more luck than I have had."

"That's the colony that was attacked by geth right? They haven't been beyond the veil in over 800 years. What the hell would bring them out here now?" My hand had been placed on my hip and I leaned to one side in thought.

Garrus threw his hands up exasperatedly and paced back and forth a few times before turning back towards me, his face had a look of frustration on it and all playfulness was now gone.

"It's Saren! This is what I've been trying to dig up but there just isn't enough! Pallin won't listen and he's closed the case on me. I'm back to doing lousy patrols with the rest of the grunts."

I crossed my arms and looked at him with a stern face, the irritation evident in my voice as I spoke. "I happen to be one of those grunts at the moment Mr. Vakarian. As much as I hated having my position as an agent suspended work is still better than nothing."

"You're right...I'm sorry I didn't mean to snap at you like that. Maybe we could-"

All of a sudden he stopped and held his hand to his ear piece, must've been his comm link coming through. A look of concern crossed his face momentarily before he covered it up and as he spoke it was quick and unwavering.

"Just stay calm and try to avoid direct answers, I'll be right there."

I looked at him with a question in my eyes, but he merely began to walk past me and stuttered out a quick response.

"There's something I have to do, see you later." Within seconds he was gone. Headed on to the next transit to who knows where, and now I was stuck alone until my shift at 2:00. Nice. Grumbling to myself about how I was always left in the dark I crushed my paper cup and tossed it in to one of the trash cans near me before deciding to just hang out at headquarters until I had to work.

* * *

The echo of my footsteps were the only thing I could hear as I walked towards the elevator that went up to the docking bay. I had clocked in a mere ten minutes ago and now apparently they had a krogan in custody who kept threatening to kill Fist, not that I cared in particular if he did. But of course we couldn't let that happen. As I came within a few feet of the small group of officers I caught a glimpse of the krogan in red armor. There was something familiar about that armor...

"We can't let you go yet Wrex you're under a one hour hold, calm down."

"I'm not angry human, but if you're in my way when I get to Fist I will be."

"That sounded like a threat to me krogan. Wrex was it?" I didn't keep the cockiness out of my voice just for dramatic flare, a smirk gracing my face.

All three men turned towards me, including the krogan. His red eyes narrowed at me before widening in recognition and he sneered in a slightly frightening way.

"Look who dragged the cat in, didn't think I'd see you again Agent."

I moved towards the two other officers and motioned towards the stairs.

"Could you guys give us a moment? I want to have a word with this...troublemaker."

Wrex grinned and grunted as the two men walked off slightly miffed, obviously they didn't like being ordered around by one of their own. Meanwhile I had clasped hands with the large krogan and nodded to him, taking a step back after we had greeted one another.

"Last time I saw you Wrex you had a salarian in a headlock and threatened to rip his...whatever those things on his head are off. What brings you here after Fist?" He shrugged and let his blood red eyes wander around the room a bit, not really concerned about discussing his hit-man business right by C-sec headquarters. He never was one for subtlety.

"Just between you and I cat, some sources have informed me that Fist has crossed the wrong person to join a turian. Name was Saren I think. Real asshole, but that's all turians."

My heart stopped for a cold second and I gasped, Garrus was right! I had to tell him and get a statement so we could take this specter down. Not many people would want to do that but this particular specter had become a pain in the ass. My ears flattened as I pounded my fist into my hand in frustration.

"Saren! Wrex if I need you to will you be able to give a statement to my boss, Pallin? It's very important."

"I don't know Fay, that could land me in some deep thresher maw shit. How about I just send you a file off of Fists computer confirming that he's working with the turian?"

"That'd be great thanks Wrex! I have to go do something important now but I'll tell them to let you go early."

He nodded and crossed his arms, his stone faced expression never changing and his red eyes intense as they watched me go. I never would have guessed that a few years back my first mission as an agent would land me a friend, and a krogan no less. I helped him with taking down a rouge group of salarians that were trying to wipe out one of the clans on Tuchunka. Ever since we've been in contact. I continued to jog towards the elevator that led towards the wards, figuring that I could easily find him there. If not I could always ask Pallin.

"Garrus come in. Garrus...hellooo."

Nothing. All I got in response was static, he must have turned his comm link off. What the hell was he doing? First he keeps hanging around with that doctor, then he gets an odd message and suddenly dips out without an explanation. Something was wrong and I was going to get to the bottom of it.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Here it is! chapter 3 ready to go, and I apologize for the delay I wanted to make sure I had checked it over. Please enjoy and leave me any comments you would like. I own nothing having to do with Mass Effect other than my OC's**_

* * *

( **C-sec Academy first year** )

I looked around to see if anyone else was in the workout room before making my way inside slowly. I never really liked to work out around anyone else. I grabbed the remote and flicked the television onto the travel channel, I may not be able to go anywhere amazing but it couldn't hurt to see other people go. Taking off my sweatshirt and draping it next to my towel I listened to the unnaturally cheery voice of the television host as she explained what they would be showing tonight.

"Today we're visiting the beautiful plains of Eden Prime. This planet has been colonized by humans for about 23 years now and it is just flourishing as everyday new plants and animals are discovered."

As I used the elliptical my eyes scanned the sunset currently on the TV dreamily. Maybe someday I could visit there if I rose in the ranks, got enough money, and had the time. I took a swig of water and wiped a bit of sweat off of my forehead with my towel before clicking the machine down a few clicks, time always seemed to go by when I was in here and the clock said I had already been working out for about 45 minutes. My breathing was heavy as I stepped off and chugged the rest of my water. I called out to turn the temperature down a bit and I immediately felt a blast of cool air hit me. I couldn't help but moan a bit at the pleasurable feeling, but the moment was cut short as I heard laughing and the sound of people carrying on. A few voices seemed to be quickly approaching the workout room.

I panicked and looked around for my hoodie, it had been tossed over a bar to the side when I began my workout but now I couldn't seem to find it. The laughing was too close now, where was it where was it?! There! I nearly sprinted across the room as I spotted my jacket on a bench against the wall and snatched it up, sighing in relief before slipping the comforting fabric over my head and pulling the hood up. Just in time too.

"She was all over me I'm tellin you, I was thinkin of visiting her bunk tonight for some alone time."

"You're one lucky bastard Vakin, how bout you Samuels? I know you've been eyeing that sweet ass asari, Lily, from across the mess hall-."

I almost winced as I heard him stop mid sentence, now I knew that I was spotted. I had been trying to sneak out the side door but I had to double back because I forgot my towel, now I had to deal with these idiots.

"Well well well, who's this here? What's your name?"

"Cadet Daye, now if you don't mind I need to get back to my bunk."

"Now hold on, you sound familiar...do I know you?"

I tried to shake my head and back up from the turian but suddenly I was grabbed from behind and my hood was ripped off, exposing my face and making my unusual ears lay flat on my head.

"It's that freak C-sec got a hold of a while back. Heard she had been with some agency that turned her into some kind of mutant."

This may come as a surprise but I wasn't the most popular person here at the academy, not only was I a freak but there weren't a lot of women here. No one knew me by name because I made it a point to alienate myself as much as possible, but that didn't help me from being singled out. Sometimes it would be subtle little indications that could barely be noticed by anybody except myself. Harder than usual hits from other cadets in training, trying to make it seem accidental. But other times they threw away all abandon and just jumped me while I was alone, which was always. They would injure me in ways and places that the trainers couldn't see, mentally and physically, but I always tried to push through it.

I began to walk towards the nearest exit to try and remove myself from the situation but I felt a hand, human this time, grab my upper arm roughly and try to drag me back. There were three of them, two turian and one human, and only one of me. It may not end well but I wasn't going to let them think they owned me. I was just as good as they were. I balled up my other hand into a fist and swung around wildly, grinning in pleasure as I felt it connect with the side of the human mans face and sent him spinning.

"You bitch!"

One of the turians rushed me while the other checked on the man, I tried to dodge the blows that were sent my way but I grunted in pain as hit foot connected with my rib cage. A gasp escaped my body as the air was knocked from my body and I could barely breath. I tried to retaliate by trying to ram my body into him but I was knocked down from behind and dragged over towards the corner of the room. At this point all I tried to do was protect my injured side from the blows and I curled into a ball, my hands trying to cover my face unsuccessfully. It seemed to go on forever, my mind trying to dull some of the pain by thinking of happier times in my life; when all of a sudden it stopped. No more kicking, no more punching, and no more shouting. The room was silent.

I wanted to lift my head to see what was happening but I was to afraid that they only wanted me to reveal myself so they could hit me again. It was only until I heard a few grunts of pain and footsteps retreating that I decided to take the chance. Breath in, breath out. It hurt so much to just take a deep breath so they ended up coming out in short ragged bursts as if I were hyperventilating.

"They're gone now, you can sit up."

That voice, it seemed so familiar, yet it sounded like a turian. And I certainly wasn't friends with any turian. My body instinctively tried to retreat even further away and I whimpered in pain as my side cried out in distress, stopping all movement.

"Here let me help you."

I felt a taloned hand grasp my arm, but it was gentle. I let him move it away from my face and help me to my feet, but I kept my other arm in such a way so that it still blocked my face from his view. I'm sure I looked a bit worse for ware, but I didn't want to seem weak so I pulled my arm from his grasp and wiped a stream of blood from a cut on my cheek; trying no to wince. My voice was quiet and unsure as I spoke my thanks to him, albeit a bit cautiously.

"Thanks..."

"You're welcome. What did you do to piss them off that much? I didn't think it got that rough here, especially on a female."

I chuckled sarcastically and looked up so he could fully see my battered face in the light, one of my eyes squinting shut from being hit so many times. His mandibles flared out in shock and I could tell that he knew who I was now. Everyone knew about the human mutant freak that always got beat up.

"Because I deserve it. I was captured by some rogue anti-alliance agency and that somehow connected me to them, so now I'm harassed not only for that but because I have fucking cat ears on my head and a tail! Oh and did I mention the shape shifting?!"

The more I spoke the angrier I became, and the angrier I became the louder I got. Soon I was shouting so loud that I was sure half the complex could hear me; though compared to everything else it really didn't matter at this point.

"Why I ever thought joining C-sec would change things for me I'll never know! Maybe...maybe I just need to go. There isn't any point in staying here and getting harassed daily-"

"And what would that solve? Nothing right?"

I stopped my ranting and turned him as I was cut off by the turian and I looked at him with a surprised expression. His voice was stern as if he was chastising a child, but at the same time it was soft with understanding.

"If there's one thing I've learned from my own past mistakes it's that running away from your problems will only make things worse. And even though I may not completely understand what you've been through, I do know that you're stronger than your fear."

His words rang through my mind truer than anything I've come to think in the past few years. Have I really lost sight of myself this much? The revelation made my eyes burn with unshed tears and I sniffed to try and hide them, I may have felt a connection to this odd turian but that didn't mean I wanted to cry in front of him. I tried to hide the weak tremble of my voice as I held myself together and nodded in his direction.

"...You're right. Uh, thanks...for everything."

He nodded back and handed me my towel that had been dropped in the rumble before turning to head out the door, but I stopped him before his hand reached the frame.

"My name...my name is Daye. FayLynn Daye."

He looked at me with what seemed to be a smile on his face before chuckling and giving his own response, flanged voice full of nothing but friendliness.

"Garrus Vakarian. See you around Daye."

* * *

( **Present Day** )

"C'mon c'mon! I don't have time for this!"

The one time that I decide to place my trust In public transportation and it fucks me over. I have something important to do and here this stupid tram system decides to go all screwy, well isn't this just so amazing?! My foot tapping and muttering must have gotten the attention of a young child just in front of me and he turned to me with sparkling green eyes, still so innocent.

"My mamma says that being impatient won't help. You should just occupy yourself."

"Well that is very good advice but I am just worried about a friend is all, maybe I should just find some other way to get there..."

The last part was half muttered to myself as I looked around for another mode of transportation to the lower section of the citadel. If I could I would simply run but there was no way to get to the other side without a car of some sort. Then suddenly it hit me, why the hell didn't I just take one of C-secs cruisers? Feeling stupid and ridiculous I got off the tram immediately and ran back towards headquarters, hopped into one of the hover cars, and sped off towards the lower wards. Other drivers honked at me in annoyance as I weaved in and out of traffic, making some people swerve off to the side in fear of crashing. It wasn't until C-sec headquarters commed me that I decided to calm down my driving a bit.

"Uh Officer. We're getting reports of erratic driving and endangerment of pedestrians. Everything ok?"

"Yep, just chasing down a criminal. Nothing wrong here, thanks for checking."

And before they could respond I clicked my comm off and threw it in the passenger seat. I don't even know why I wear it half the time, it just gets annoying. Almost like a buzz in your ear. I finally saw my destination and took a sharp right down to a landing pad. Again I heard several horn blares behind me, I guess I never was a safe driver anyways. As soon as the car landed I took the keys and hopped out, running towards the elevator that would take me to C-sec and then I could sprint up the stairs and be right there at the medical clinic.

"The latest attack on Eden Prime has left several human colonies worried about whether they will be hit next or not, and sign ups for future colonies have dropped dramatically. Scientists are trying to figure out why the geth have just now left the Veil when they haven't done so in over 300 years."

Why did they always have to make me listen to such negative reports while I was on the elevator? Play some of that stupid music or something. Finally it dinged and the doors opened, I ran down the hall and towards the stairs, pushing past several people as I did so. My breathing was a bit ragged on account of running everywhere and from my heart pounding out of my chest, but I didn't stop when I reached the top of the stairs. I turned the corner and burst into the clinic with my weapon drawn, ready for anything at this point, but there was no one here except for the very surprised doctor.

"Oh my! You frightened me Agent, is there something I can do for you? Is your tail having trouble healing properly?"

"Uh no no. Nothing like that. Has Garrus been here?"

She nodded and began to wring her hands while looking down, she was nervous about something.

"Yes...yes he was. He had told me to call him if I had any trouble in my clinic. When I told him there was a group of men looking around my clinic not long ago he had told me he was on his way, and before he got here they began to question me about a quarian. Then Commander Shepard showed up and helped him save me."

"Shepard? What the hell was she doing down here? And why would they want to know about a quarian?"

She looked around a bit more before motioning me closer, obviously she didn't want this information to be known to a whole lot of people.

"A quarian came in a few days ago with an injury, she seemed scared but she wouldn't say about what. She did say that she had some information to trade though so I put her in contact with Fist, he's an agent for the Shadow Broker."

Fist. Great. I needed to head to Chora's Den then. I nodded and thanked the doctor for her help before rushing out of the clinic and down the stairs towards the wards. It sounded like this quarian is going to be somewhat of value and Fist was probably going to ask for a shady trade. As I neared Chora's Den I noticed several people pushing past each other and some were screaming, that was never a good sign. Then I heard the gunfire. Immediately I pulled out my carnifex and moved up the ramp towards the entrance to Chora's Den with the utmost caution, pressing my back against the wall as the doors opened. But when I poked my head around the corner nothing was there. No shooting no yelling, just bodies.

"What the...? Where'd everyone go?" My voice was low and I just barely whispered the words to myself in confusion as I stepped out from my cover.

I continued to walk around the bar and search for anyone living but no one was there, how odd. There was nowhere else for them to go then out the way that I had come in and nobody had been past me. My sharp green gaze flitted around the room and analyzed anything that may had seemed out of place in the now half torn up club, not hesitating to linger on the few casualties that I had spotted. Other than that there was nothing except a locked door towards the back. That's where Fist usually chose to hide out. Just as I began to walk towards the door to investigate I heard shouting down the hall, sounded like a larger group of people and they did not sound happy.

"In here! Boss wants all of Shepard's team dead!"

Shit shit shit! I tried to head for the nearest cover but before I could even take a step they were already through the front door and all eyes were trained on me.

"Stop!" One of the mercenaries yelled out to me along with a few others, but I didn't bother stopping to turn around and look. I knew what they would do to me and with how many had seemed to walk in I didn't stand a chance with a frontal assault. I pushed my legs harder to reach the safety of a few storage crates; unfortunately I wasn't fast enough.

I cried out as I felt two bullets rip through my leg as they broke through my shields and I fell sideways into a table with a grunt. Luckily it fell over and I was able to move behind it for cover. A spray of bullets ricocheted off of the metal and began flying everywhere, breaking glasses and blowing out bulbs around the room. I tried to fire off rounds whenever I could but there were so many of them that my chances were limited. My ears easily picked up on their voices as they tried to figure out why I was there.

"Is that one of Shepard's?"

"No, but we have orders to eliminate whoever is in Chora's Den so she dies with them!"

Great. Now I earned myself a spot on the chopping block, just what I had wanted today. Maybe they would throw in a violent beating before hand. I huffed out a frustrated puff of air and reloaded the thermal clips in my gun; I didn't really like the whole recharging weapons thing, clips seemed much easier. I bent my head down to avoid the spray of bullets that came my way, my face screwing up as I tried to ignore the growing stench of my own blood, which of course was rapidly seeping through my pants and on to the floor. I had tried to patch it up with medi-gel, but I only had enough on me to partially stop one of the wounds from flowing.

"Shit-Fuck you guys!" I peered around the side of my partial shelter and fired off round after round at my attackers, managing to pick off two of them with lucky shots to the head. I was close to finishing off a third, but the hand that I had been using to prop myself up with slipped on the growing pool of blood beneath me and I lost my balance; this in turn caused my gun to slip from my grasp and skid along the floor about three feet from my cover.

"No!" I cursed harshly and pulled back behind the table quickly so that I wasn't shot to death and kept my eyes trained on my only weapon. There was no way I was getting out of this one, especially not without my gun. And as if my luck couldn't have gotten any worse I heard the shout of triumph as one of the men realized I had lost my only means of defense, or at least that was what they thought. Second by second I waited for them to move a bit closer, their footsteps growing nearer, until they were no more than about 5 feet from my cover. I let my biotics charge in to a power shield-like skin around my body, almost as if it were a type of armor, and then pushed it outwards with all the strength I had left in me.

"Look out!"

"Get back!" They tried to escape the blast to no avail and I grinned in satisfaction as I heard their bodies slam against the wall, some making a wet crunching noise. At least if I went down I would take some of these bastards out with me.

"That bitch! Let's finish her off, the boss is getting impatient!" Knowing that my final moments were finally upon me I closed my eyes tightly and waited for the killing shot to be delivered, but before the mercs could even begin to move towards me the sound of an explosion drew everybody's attention. Then suddenly I heard another group of voices; sounded like two women yelling out, then minute by minute the groans and yells of the men and women who had attacked me followed as they were out gunned. I wasn't sure it was completely over even though it was quiet once more so I stayed behind my cover and kept quite. Were these people friendly or did they just want to kill those guys because they were in the way? I slowed my breathing enough to where I could talk steadily before yelling out to the other group.

"Friend or Foe?"

"Who's asking? I'm wondering the same." Well she sounded like a friendly ray of sunshine. A more commanding voice followed after the first and I immediately felt a bit more confident in my chances of survival. They were probably back up from C-sec.

"Hold on Ashley lower your gun. This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy, are you ok?" Okay...maybe they weren't back up. What the hell was Shepard doing down here in Chora's Den during this shootout though? I sure as hell didn't call anybody so she must have had some motive. My eyebrows pulled down in a mixture of confusion and pain as my brain wracked around the possibilities.

"Shepard, there's blood pooling near where she is. She must have been hit."

I couldn't recognize the third voice that spoke up because of the ringing in my ears and the immense pain from my leg that was now all too obvious. Speaking of which it wasn't looking too good, there was too much blood on the floor. Was the room starting to spin or was it just me? I tried to pull myself up off of the floor by gripping the edge of the table, but as soon as I tried to stand I fell back onto my side. That must have looked great. Really elegant. I spoke with only slight difficulty and was surprised that I felt slightly winded from the minor fall causing my ears to lie flat on my head.

"Ugh, ouch. A little help...would...be appreciated."

I could hear multiple footsteps approaching and suddenly I heard the voice of a turian. The flanged voice was never very difficult to pick out amongst a group, especially if it was just other humans around. This one sounded particularly worried.

"Oh spirits FayLynn. What the hell are you doing here?"

Garrus. What the hell was he doing with Shepard? I felt his three-fingered hands run down my body, checking for wounds, until they reached my leg and I grunted in pain. Never did feel too comfortable when somebody prodded at a very fresh, very open bullet wound.

"Hey...that kind of...hurts...and as to why I'm here, well, I was looking for you. I thought that you had gotten yourself into a bit of trouble so I tracked some tips and ended up down here. Lucky for me you guys showed up huh? Though I still think I could have taken them on."

I tried not to let the pain show in my voice and sound confident even though it was pointless what with the sting and burning of the bullets still present in my leg; though it was slowly fading into a sort of numbing sensation. Weird. My voice sounded far away and had an echo effect to it as I spoke slowly and I could tell my body was losing the battle. Unfortunately that also meant everyone else around me could hear it as well.

" Hey, my leg feels greaaaat now. Actually I can't really feel it much at all." My tongue felt heavy and my lips struggled to form the correct shape for the words my mind was thinking

"Shepard there's too much blood...I need to get her help now."

"Garrus bring her to Chakwas on the Normandy and send Kaidan to Udina's office. Ashley and I can get to the quarian just fine on our own. Go!"

I was scooped into the arms of my turian friend and he set off towards what I assumed to be the Normandy, but the whole trip was a blur. My hearing and vision was fading the more blood I lost, blackness creeping at the edges of my sight and soon everything was just a dim light to me. There were a few times that I heard shouting and felt someones breath fan across my face every now and then, but then it went silent. All the noises of bustling and cars flying by disappeared. My eyes were now closed and I was just slipping off the edge of consciousness as I was set on a cold surface. I just barely registered Garrus speaking in a hurried and frantic tone as he tried to ask somebody to help me; though the voices sounded as if I were underwater.

"Just stand back young man, I can't help her if you're in the way."

This voice was stern and professional sounding, a woman I think. But then she spoke in a softer tone, almost as if she were speaking to a child and reassuring them.

"I won't let her die, it'll be ok. Just go wait in the mess." How did she know that though? She was willing to bet that I would definitely make it even though she knew nothing of who I was or my physiology; and yet I wasn't afraid. Some feeling inside of me instinctively told me that she was more than capable of taking care of me without a problem. So with that slight push of confidence that I had rise up to quell the growing wave of fear I finally let myself slip off of the ledge that I had been so precariously perched on; letting my senses go dark and my mind go blank.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Okay so this chapter is going to start out a little differently. Sometimes there will be parts in which a glimpse into the past at the academy will happen just to try and add a little variety to the story. If you guys don't like it let me know. I do not own anything Mass Effect.**_

* * *

( **C-sec academy memory** )

"So who's taking you to the ball for the executive?"

"No one. I'm not going."

"What do you mean you're not going? It's practically part of our grade, and you don't need anymore shit from Varus. He already doesn't like you."

I flicked my ear in irritation and took another sip of my fruit punch before putting the cap on and standing, I really didn't want to discuss this with Garrus even if he was my best friend. Some things were just personal.

"I'm going to go get some rest, Nira wants me to go with her to get a dress later today. I'll see you tomorrow." My voice indicated that I wanted to be left alone, though I did feel a little guilty about being so cold towards him just because of this.

I know that Garrus was probably upset with me and my attitude about the whole situation, he usually was when it came to social events. But what was I supposed to do when I had alienated myself for the past few years? Not to mention when I was working with the rogue organization that had experimented on me extensively in a failed attempt at making a super soldier. As I made my way to my apartment I could hear snickers of the other few human girls that went to the academy here, making comments on how I looked or how I was a lesbian. Not that I really cared what they thought, but sometimes things just get annoying when you deal with them every day.

"Look at that freak, how is she even alive?"

"I heard that she worked with ex-Alliance people, what a traitor. I bet she's a spy for them."

Oh yes of course, the girl that's been going to the academy for a year and used to get beat up almost everyday is a spy. The only reason I don't now is because I've become adept at hand to hand combat and Garrus acts as my 24 hour body guard. Even though about 90 percent of the academy were turians Garrus happened to also be one of the highest ranking hand to hand combatants here. Ignoring the preppy females I unlocked the door and walked into the apartment quietly, trying not to wake Nira's varren Cyprus. That thing could sleep through a thunderstorm, but as soon as he hears the door open he's up and running around.

'Woof wooof, rrrrrrr.'

"Yes Cyprus I hear you. Why can't you just stay asleep for once?"

He merely wagged his short tail in response and licked my hand as I walked down the hall, I knew Nira was probably meditating or something. I used to always make fun of her when we first became friends, asking her if she had been embracing eternity because she took so long to get ready. My eyes honed in on her blue form as I entered our bedroom and I couldn't help but smile at her serene expression; that of course was broken into a full on grin when she realized that I was home. I rolled my eyes as she bounced over to me and pulled me in to a tight hug. My voice was less than enthusiastic in response.

"Hey you ready? I want to get this over with."

" I'm ready. And don't be so negative, this is going to be a bonding experience! Now lets go before all the good dresses are taken."

( **Later that evening** )

"Why do I have to have one if I'm not even going? It's pointless."

"Because it's pretty and goes with you're figure beautifully, besides who knows maybe someone will ask you to go with them."

I scoffed at the idea and took another sip from my water, like anyone was really going to ask me. Not that it bothered me anyways. I knew Nira was going with some human named Jason, they had been going out for only about a week, but he seemed nice enough and treated her well.

"Sure...so are we going home now?"

She tapped her chin as if she had to think it over before grinning and shaking her head, I knew she had something else planned.

"Not quite. C'mon it's a surprise!"

I winced as she took a hold of my arm and proceeded to drag me along the hall and down towards the beauty section of the shopping center. This was like seeing my worst nightmare come to life.

"Oh no no no no-"

"Yesyesyes! Please do this with me it'll be so relaxing and fun. Plus you already said you needed a haircut!"

Damn her and her memory! She really wanted me to have a makeover day with her...why did she have to torture me so? But I knew she didn't do this out of spite, she merely wanted to do something together, and if that's what it took to make her happy... I sighed and tried to put on a smile to show I was trying. There were worse things in life then spending a day out with a beloved friend.

"Alright, lets just get this over with."

With a squeal of delight the asari pulled me over into the salon and pushed me down into a chair, all the while I looked at her in confusion. Didn't you usually have to make an appointment or wait in line or something for these places?

"Don't we have to wait till they call us?" My voice conveyed the confusion I had felt towards her actions, but I only got a cheeky grin in response.

"Nope, I called ahead and made an appointment."

Oh she was evil for sure. Nira plopped down next to me as another asari walked over and introduced herself as my hairdresser. Her skin was a lighter shade of lavender purple, but her eyes were a dark ocean blue; she reassured me that I was in good hands. Over the course of the next hour I was shampooed, trimmed, styled, makeuped, and everything else in between all the while I had my hair dresser cooing over how much she loved my hair and how she remembered her first ball room dance. Not that she wasn't nice but I wasn't much of a social talker. I mostly smiled and nodded. At one point I had my eyes closed for almost twenty minutes, but I was shaken out of the light sleep I had slipped in to and opened my eyes to see Nira beside me looking absolutely radiant.

"So, what do you think?"

"You look amazing! What'd they use on you since you don't have hair?" I did nothing to hide the jealousy and utter fascination that I felt at seeing my roommate look so fabulous.

"A special skin cream that moisturizes and brightens skin, but enough about me. Have you seen yourself? You're like a different person...so beautiful."

I shrugged and turned towards the large mirror in front of me, expecting to see myself with shorter hair, some eye shadow and maybe some lip gloss. But What I saw in the mirror didn't even remotely look like the me I had gotten used to. This woman staring back at me was glowing and all lashes, her eyes shone brightly and her hair looked like a luscious waterfall cascading over her shoulders; about two inches shorter than it was. Her lips were glistening with gloss and her ivory skin was contrasted by faint pink on her cheeks. It wasn't overhauled by any means and yet I could barely recognize my own face. I brought a hand up to stroke my cheek to tell myself it was real and that this wasn't all some funky dream.

"Wow..."

I was just so amazed by the woman in the mirror that I didn't notice Nira walk out and then back in with our dresses, moving towards some changing rooms.

"C'mon, time to see the full view."

I took my dress from her after slowly rising from my chair and made my way into the smallish looking room. This all seemed a bit silly and I didn't even know why I got a dress when I wasn't going. But like I said, as long as it makes her happy I would do it, I know she only wants the best for me and I would do the same. I pulled off my long sleeve and let it fall to the floor along with my pants before stepping into my dress. I chose one that was almost floor length, a simple design with a deep v neckline and an over the head strap. It was a pretty silver green color that was dark at the bottom and became lighter with a cherry blossom branch weaving up the side and stopping just above my hip. I also bought darker green elbow height gloves and Silver heels.

I wasn't used to being pampered and dressed up, it had never really been my thing, but the longer I simply looked at myself the more I began to feel...pretty. Looks had never bothered me at any point in my life, I was pretty average as far as it went, but with just a bit of touching up and a dress to bring out my eyes I seemed to be a different woman overall. I jumped slightly and tore my eyes away from the mirror as Nira called out to me excitedly, her chipper voice all too distinguishable.

"You all dressed in there Fay? C'mon I wanna see!"

I took a deep breath and pushed my bangs to the side a bit before unlocking the door and stepping out into the light. I had to shield my eyes for a second because it was so bright but as my vision cleared up I saw that Nira wasn't the only one there. I gasped and my cheeks immediately heated up in embarrassment as I saw the steely-blue eyes of my turian friend widen, probably out of shock and disbelief. That little sneak! I was going to have to have a few words with my so called best friend later after we got home.

"I uh...wow...wow"

Garrus seemed at a loss for words and his mouth kept opening and closing like a fish, mandibles flaring out for several minutes before he cleared his throat. He regained his composure and seemed to divert his eyes momentarily as if it would help him focus. Why was he here anyways?

"So I just wanted to come here to ask you a question."

Oh my gods was he going to ask me to the ball?! Wait why was I even jumping to that conclusion? This was Garrus! One of my best friends that treated me like a sibling...not that I hated the idea honestly. If I was going to be truthful to myself I had to admit that I did have a slight crush on him. So I braced myself and held my breath, waiting anxiously for him to ask. Nira seemed to be looking at me with what I had thought was encouragement, though when I met her eyes she looked away. Odd.

"Would you want to go to the ball with Kalick? He needs a date and I suggested you even though you said you didn't want to go. I'm going with Vataria so I was thinking that maybe we could all hang out afterwards.

I felt my ears lay flat against my head as my heart dropped into my stomach at sound of the complete opposite of what I had thought he was going to say left his mouth. So that explained the odd look my roommate was giving me; it hadn't been encouragement...she pitied me. Whatever. It was silly of me to think that he was going to ask me out. We were just friends and I'm sure he wants to connect with someone of his own species and not some mutated human. I shouldn't have even thought about it.

"Um, I guess that would be ok." The rock that had dropped in to my stomach and weighed me down hadn't disappeared so I just tried to act completely indifferent to hearing who he was taking. I wasn't going to let him see that I was hurt...I couldn't. All I could do was play the part of the third wheel and take the handout that was being given to me. If Garrus had noticed the change in my demeanor he didn't show it.

"Great! I'll tell him and we'll all meet up at about 6 tomorrow night at the front of the academy."

I smiled and nodded as he sent a smile to Nira and then strutted quickly out of the salon, probably going to buy his suit and get something for his special date. I should be happy for him. I wanted to be happy for him...but I just couldn't. Nira must've noticed the look on my face and rubbed my arm in comfort, obviously she could feel the vibes coming off of me and knew exactly what was wrong. The whole day seemed pointless to me now.

"Well...you look gorgeous! Now lets get our dresses put away and head back home for a marathon of horror movies. I hear they're playing Nexium 5!"

I smiled and nodded, doing my best to act as if nothing had happened, before heading back into the changing room. At least I could just go home and relax now. But as I slipped the dress off and put it back into its protective coat I noticed something drip onto the fabric, I wiped my hand lightly across my face as I realized that they were tears, why was I crying? I continued to wipe off the rest and made sure I didn't smear any makeup. No, I wasn't going to cry over something so stupid and childish, Garrus was going with someone else and that was that. I zipped up the bag, got dressed again, and headed out to meet my friend with the fakest smile I could muster.

* * *

"Aren't you excited?! I can't wait to dance with Jason and then have a nice make out session afterwards."

I chuckled as I waited for Nira to finish putting her dress and shoes on, she had chosen a strapless dress that had a sweetheart neckline and sequins creating a design on the front. It was a lovely shade of purple and complimented her skin beautifully. We had been getting ready for about 2 hours now and my patience was wearing thin. I had ignored all my baser instincts that told me to run and agreed to go to this stupid ball. And on top of that it was with one of Garrus's friends.

"Alright Nira here's the plan. We go to the ball, dance, you go off and do whatever and I'm going home before it's over. I really don't want to waste my whole night."

She pouted as we walked to the cars and got in, seating ourselves beside our dates and buckling our seat belts. I tried not to look completely out of place and uncomfortable as my friend tried to argue with me.

"But why? Don't you wanna-"

"No. Just...this isn't really my comfortzone ok? I just want to make it quick." I spoke low and hushed so that no one else heard me.

She sighed and nodded, realizing that I wasn't going to change my mind on the matter, before turning towards Jason and gushing about how handsome he looked tonight. I looked across from where I sat and saw Kalick looking at me with his mouth agape, he couldn't have been anymore obvious.

"Uh wow FayLynn you look...great."

"Thanks...umm so do you Kalick. So uh, why did you agree to go with me? Obviously we've never had any type of encounter before besides a simple 'Hey' if we walked by one another."

He seemed a bit offset by my being so direct, and honestly I felt bad that I was so forward. But as I said social interactions were not my strongest point, especially with new people. He let his mandibles click a few times before straightening his back out and looking at me directly, not missing a beat. Had to give him extra points for effort.

"I figured you'd appreciate someone who had an interest in you having the balls to actually ask you out somewhere, if you don't mind me saying so. You seem like there's more to you than you let others see."

Wow, he was good. And he seemed to be pretty nice even for a turian, most here held a grudge against humans for one reason or another but he seemed to have no problem at all. The rest of the ride was spent with all of us chatting quietly, and I kept eyeing Garrus's date, trying to size her up. She was an asari. A nice shade of purple skin with markings around her eyes and lips, a ruby red dress hugging her curves and accenting her legs. I had her by about 2 inches in height, but she had me in the curve department, not that it mattered. Her eyes though were the most striking by far, a deep forest green, which was unusual for an asari. They usually had some shade of blue for an eye color. Fortunately for her my criticism was cut short as the car came to a stop and Nira grabbed all of our attention, her bubbly personality shining bright.

"Here we are, you guys ready to strut your stuff?"

I sighed and rolled my eyes before exiting the car after Kalick, grasping his hand for support as he helped me out and then taking his arm as we made our way inside the large galla like building. I tried to hide behind his body the whole time but failed miserably when he pulled me gently to stand back beside him, bending down to whisper something in my ear. My skin tingled as his mandibles fluttered against my cheek. When had he moved so close?

"You look great, don't be nervous."

How could he be so confident? Shaking off any nervous feeling that I was having I straightened my back and walked tall. He was right, who the hell cares what other people think, I looked fantastic and I was going to show off what I had. With a new found vigor and a complete turn in my attitude I flashed him a sweet smile and swayed my hips a bit more. If this is what it took to get through the night then dammit I was going to do it. The music had already started by the time we arrived, a slow song by the sounds of it, and I looked up to my date as he bowed and offered me his hand courteously.

"My lady?"

I couldn't help but laugh at his chivalry. How had I not noticed him before? He led me towards the floor with grace and righted us in a dancing position, hand low on my waist and the other holding my hand. I would have thought that with the drastic difference in height and the off shaping of our bodies that the paring would be weird, but everything seemed to go together as normal as ever. I placed my free hand on his shoulder and let him lead. As we danced and twirled I felt like laughing, the feeling was so light and giddy, and my dance partner wasn't half bad either. I could tell that he was bold, making moves such as his hand straying lower on my hip or leaning his face towards my neck just to get close. I blushed as he kept the close proximity at times and smiled. He seemed to take that as a good sign and spoke up after what had felt like hours of dancing., his voice indicating that he was enjoying this as much as I was.

"See? You're doing great."

"Only because you're leading scaly." I kept my tone light and playful just to avoid any confusion. Didn't want to offend my date and be left standing around like a dope.

"Scaly? That's a new one. Well...you have a tail..."

I couldn't contain the laugh that escaped me, my grin splitting my face, and I tried to cover it up quickly. Unfortunately Kalick had other ideas and held my hand in between us.

"Don't you dare hide that smile, it makes you glow."

Again with the blushing. Was it his mission to make me die of embarrassment? And why was he so interested in me? He had said something about it in the car, but I had just marked it off as him being polite.

"C'mon, lets get something to drink. You look like you could use some air."

The teasing was evident in his voice but it was lighthearted. I let him lead me over to the refreshments table and he handed me a glass of some dark red liquid, probably wine, before we walked to one of the balcony's. It was so funny, this was just like a scene from one of those princess movies where they shared a moonlight kiss on the balcony. Not that I wanted to kiss him for spirits sake, but that's what it reminded me of. As I sipped at the drink in my hand I could feel his stare burning a hole in my side. What had made him so determined with me? And if he liked me as much as he had been saying why hadn't he come to me sooner? I tipped my glass for another sip but then realized that I had drank it all. Red wine really does go fast. And apparently this was some of the best shit I've had in awhile because my mind was already a little fuzzy.

"Hey Fay."

"Yeah?" I tried not to let it surprise me when he used the name that only Garrus and Nira called me. Everyone else called me freak.

His face was so close too mine now, drink forgotten on the ledge behind him while he kept leaning towards me. What was he doing?! I thought turians didn't kiss!

"Kalick...what are you doing..."

I wanted to put a little more conviction behind my voice but it just wasn't happening. There was some part of me that wanted this, wanted the attention, to be held and kissed...but not by Kalick. But then I remembered that Garrus had made up his mind. No doubt his asari date was going to be glued to him in no time, so I pushed away all the nagging thoughts in my mind and met his mouth the rest of the way. My eyes closing partly out of nervousness and partly out of content. Had somebody told him that since I was human he should kiss me?

It was a bit awkward at first since he didn't have any actual lips, but soon we found a comfortable tilt and just went with it. After what seemed like an eternity we pulled away from one another and I released the breath that I had been unconsciously holding, my eyes opening to see Kalick watching me with interest. I felt my heart flutter and my feet shift under his gaze as I tried not to blush and averted my eyes to the ground, but when I looked back up to question his actions I nearly gasped at what I saw.

"Garrus?" When the hell had Garrus walked over here? I looked around for Kalick only to find that he was gone and I couldn't help but stare at my friend before me in confusion as he spoke. That's when it became even more usual. The voice that left his mouth wasn't his voice, it sounded like Kalick.

"Uh, Garrus? Fay what are you talking about, is he behind me?" I shook my head and when I opened my eyes once more there was Kalick, looking around curiously to try and find the other turian that was clearly not there. Great, I finally have a great night and I ruin it by saying another mans name after kissing my date. How charming. Trying to brush it off as nothing I smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of my head with a small laugh.

"Oh uh, I meant that he is probably having a good time too. And that he's around here somewhere. Hehe..." It was such a lame excuse, but it was the only one I could think of. Kalick didn't even seem to realize it though and just shrugged before letting his mandibles flare out in a smile before taking my hand and leading me back inside. I hope he didn't think that I regretted kissing him by acting so awkward now.

"Lets find him then."

"O-okay." I felt a little conflicted about holding this turians hand even though we had gotten quite close a few moments ago, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to just keep up the part of a happy party goer for a little while longer.

Continuing to walk around with Kalick I couldn't help but let my eyes wander around the room to try and gauge how far along it was, silently wishing it to be over soon. Not that I wasn't really having a good time, I just preferred to not be so public for long periods of time. It wasn't long before we stopped by the refreshment table once more and I grabbed a glass of champagne, sipping the drink slowly and relishing the flavor. I wonder how Nira was doing with Jason...

"Hey Fay you alright? You seem a little distracted."

"Huh?" My attention immediately snapped back to reality and I focused on the turian beside me as he put light pressure on my shoulder. He was so nice and all I kept doing was zoning off while he was trying to make the best of this. He deserved a better date than me. My eyes were apologetic and I sighed heavily.

"I'm really sorry Kalick, it's not you. I guess all these people are wracking my nerves a bit, I'm not used to stuff like this."

"Don't be sorry, it's not like you can help it. Hey, I just talked to a friend of mine and she said she saw Vakarian and his date head to the garden area. Why don't we go there as well?" His voice was coaxing and genuinely kind sounding as he spoke, I could hear that much. Even with his flanged two toned voice that all turians had. With a nod and a small smile I accepted his offer and wound my arm through his own, letting him lead me out of the clustered ball room and out to the gardens.

The silence that settled around us was much more pleasing to my sensitive ears and allowed my once tense body to now relax. Taking a moment to look around as we walked I noted how there were lights strung up around the different fountains and trees that littered the area, illuminating the few people who had, like us, come out to seek some isolation.

"Hmmm, she said that they would be near the tulips...there."

Kalick pointed a talon in the direction of a large patch of the yellow and purple flowers before pulling me in their direction. It wasn't until we were a few feet away that I had decided to change my mind about seeing the turian whom plagued my thoughts.

"Hey uh, actually Kalick, I think we should just go sit somewhere. I don't really need to see him-"

"Nonsense. I'm sure all four of us will have a great time talking and catching up about the night so far."

"But Kalick I **really** don't want to."

"We're already here so we might as well-"

"Ahh!"

My eyes widened in complete shock as Kalick and I stumbled upon a scene that I wished I had never laid eyes on. There lay Garrus, the top buttons of his suit undone and his tie haphazardly thrown to the side, and his date sitting on top of him. Her dress was slightly rode up and I could see more markings on the purple skin of her upper thigh. As soon as they realized they were not alone the asari's head turned to look at us both, but in no way did she look even the slightest bit ashamed. Instead she had the audacity to arch where her eyebrows would be questioningly while Garrus sputtered and tried to sit up.

"Can we help you?" Possession, defense, confidence...a challenge. I immediately picked up on all these feelings from just those four words as she spoke them and my tail immediately frizzed up and my ears laid flat. Obvious disdain was in the air between us. Unfortunately I was in no position to stand my ground and push back.

"I-uh-we were just...I'll be going now." My voice was unnaturally high pitched and it took all of my resolve not to change forms right then and there and slink off into the night to brood. How the hell could he pull something like this?! No...I had no right to think like that. We weren't together and he had no idea I even liked him, so why should it matter. As I took off, throwing off my heels as I went so I could cover more ground, I heard Kalick calling my name and Garrus cursing. Not looking back for even one second I continued to run until the garden, and its occupants, disappeared from my sight.

I don't know how long I ran, but it must have been longer than a few minutes because as soon as I slowed down my legs began to scream at me. The muscles already beginning to ache. My chest heaved up and down heavily as I bent over, bracing my hands against my knees and clenching my teeth to try and keep back the sobs that I felt welling up. It didn't work. My tears began to flow freely and made hot streaks down my face, falling on to the ground heavily.

"Fuck this! Why the hell am I crying over that **bitch** and Garrus?! I don't even give a shit!" That's what I wanted myself to believe. I wanted to not care about any of this that was going on around me and just finish my training, get the hell away from everybody and work. But I couldn't. It was next to impossible for me to not care about somebody who had stuck by my side when nobody else would and who had given me a reason to fight. Fight for my right to be here the same as everybody else. And now I would suffer because of it. My legs shook and gave out, dropping my heavy body to the ground and bringing me further down. The feeling that was welling up inside of me hurt so badly.

"I can't do this...I can't keep crying over stupid shit like this...it's weak! I'm weak, and I don't belong and I wish that the stupid fucking organization that had taken me would have just killed me when they had the chance!" As I said this I slammed my fists into the ground repeatedly without even caring that mud was getting all over me and my dress. It didn't matter. I deserved the pain that would come from this no matter if it was scrapes, bruises or broken bones.

Even more broken sobs escaped from my mouth, even after I had stopped striking the ground. There were indents where I had been hitting; my hands looked bloody and were streaked with dirt as I looked at them, though my vision was still blurry from the tears. Damn did I hate feeling like this. But all of a sudden my ears swiveled back as I heard the sound of a car headed my way, stopping a few yards behind me while the person who had been driving hopped out and called my name. The worry that laced their voice made me feel even worse, but not quite as bad as having broken down like this.

"Fay!" Their steps grew closer and closer, the tension in my body growing, until they were no more than two feet behind me. I didn't stand, even as I answered them. It wasn't worth acting like I had the strength at the moment. My voice was was shaking and barely containing my sorrow as I spoke barely above a whisper, the cracking of my voice making me sound pitiful.

"Nira." She didn't stop walking to me even as I growled slightly, her determination obviously very set, and then wrapped her arms around me from behind. At first I thought that she would be irritated that she had been ripped from the party because of me and my actions, but her voice was shaky as she spoke; it made my heart break further.

"I was so worried about you! Kalick found me in a rush and had told me what happened...I'm sorry Fay. I...nothing I say will make it hurt less...I know how you felt about him...how you feel about him."

"I know Nira. It's fine. I have no right to act like this-"

"No it's not fine and you have every right to feel like this."

The heartache was still present even as she let go and took a few steps back to allow me to stand. My legs were shaky and the bottom portion of my dress was stained brown from the grass and mud; I didn't care for dresses much anyways. My eyes averted to look over at a lone tree near us, not wanting to be seen through by my friends stunning blue gaze that always broke me down. I wanted to keep as much of the pain to myself as I could. I knew that she was there for me, but I didn't want people to constantly have to protect and defend me. I had to stop being their burden.

"We can leave. I already talked to our instructor about it and he's pardoned both of us for the evening."

"But what about-"

"Stop." This time I did look over, I had to. I gasped as I saw a fire in her eyes and a frown on her face. Nira always had the type of face that you couldn't imagine sad or angry, it just appeared that bright. But now? Seeing her unhappy because of me was almost...frightening. I paid rapt attention as she spoke to me now with a soft tone, her voice not matching her expression in the least. "We're going home and I'm putting on our favorite vids while we enjoy one another...I don't want you alone right now. People get reckless when they're heartbroken."

The last word she said hung between us in the air like a poised dagger. It was like she was asking me to get angry, though maybe not intentionally, and that was exactly what I did. My hands clenched back into fists and I looked away again as I felt my eyes narrow in to slits. I was done being weak and I was not going to let my emotions define me any longer.

"I'm not."

"Then why did you come here? You had been fine before."

"Nira please."

"Kalick said that you two were getting along great, but when you went outside and saw-"

" **STOP!** " I practically roared out the word and my biotics flared in response, my control no longer stopping them. The lone tree that I had been looking over earlier began to groan and shake as it was covered in a dark blue light, my power wrapping around it as I sought out some kind of outlet for the destructive instinct I felt in this moment. My breath came out in ragged gasps as I continued to let it flow through me, trying my hardest not to hurt my asari friend in any way; she was not to blame for my lack of emotional control.

"By the goddess!" I heard her gasp at seeing the tree being destroyed and almost hesitated, but the blood and adrenaline pumping through my veins wouldn't allow it. Nothing could stop this now. I pushed even more power through my body and watched as the tree began to crack in some spots as it began to become uprooted. I almost continued, at least that was until I realized that blood had begun to pour from my nose and my vision had become dark around the edges.

Immediately my biotics dissipated as my full attention was now on how to get the bleeding to stop. Hastily I tried to wipe it away only to have more take its place, the stream steady and thick as it trickled onto my lips and down my chin. My emerald eyes lifted to look at my friend with fear in their depths and I found it hard to stay upright. "Nira?" It was a mere millisecond after I had uttered her name that my legs gave out and my body crumpled to the cool ground painfully. The blood that and been staining my lips dripped onto my tongue in the process and I swallowed heavily at the coppery taste.

"FayLynn no!" Hands immediately cupped my face and I saw the blue outline of Nira's face as she tried to keep me awake; it wasn't working.

"I can't..."

"Stay with me okay? I'm going to get you help I promise." Had she lifted me up? My body now felt weightless as I was carried to the car in the arms of my asari angel, her skin warm against my own. As she laid me in the passenger seat and quickly ran over to her own, now wasting time with seat belts, she gunned the engine and sped off to what I assumed was a hospital, but at this point I wasn't very aware of my surroundings. Car horns in the distance...a muffled voice in my ear and a hand brushing the hair away from my face. Then there was nothing except the open arms of the void that awaited me.


	5. Chapter 5

_**I apologize in advance for this chapter being a little short, I've been trying to make them longer for you guys. It's a bit of a filler and adds a little more to FayLynn's past. Enjoy. I only own my OC's, nothing Mass Effect.**_

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Waking up to a splitting head ache and soreness in your leg isn't the best thing, so I felt oh so special as I stiffly tried to sit up in what felt like a medical bay bed. My vision was blurry and I could hear my own raspy breathing as it rattled out of my chest. How long had I been out for? It felt like years with how worn out my body felt. Just as I was about to try and half roll half step down from the bed I was stopped in my tracks by a very firm and chastising voice.

"Now hold on just a minute young lady, sit back onto that bed this instant. Don't want you trying to walk on that leg just yet."

"Huh? Excuse me who are you might I ask?" Maybe I had put a little too much attitude into my voice, though in my defense I was fairly unsure of where I was at the moment. Luckily that didn't seem to dissuade the woman before me.

What I was assuming to be the doctor crossed her arms and sighed as if she had patients like me all the time, probably did. Though unlike most other doctors I dealt with this one seemed to have quite the fire inside for an older woman."My name is Doctor Chakwas of the SSV Normandy, you were brought in about two days ago with a leg wound. It hit a major artery and you lost a substantial amount of blood because the bullet had been coated in a very strong anticoagulant which prevented your body from naturally clotting to try and stop said bleeding. I was surprised that you made it here so fast though. Last I heard the group was at Chora's Den."

Ah, that would explain the reason why my body couldn't naturally heal most of the arterie. I may be enhanced, but I wasn't immortal. My luck was bound to run out at some point. Trying to sound a bit more grateful this time I gave a small smile of thanks and met what I had assumed were the eyes of my savior. My vision was still a bit blurry from waking up from the anesthetics; hopefully they would clear out within a few minutes.

"Well we were, or they were and I showed up during a fight. But I after I was hit and they found me I think Garrus carried me here...where's Garrus?"

My vision had cleared up at this point and I could now see her form clearly. Grayed hair cut short and age lines to indicate her as an older woman, but there was something strong hiding beneath her brown eyes. She had that look about her face that told me she wasn't to be underestimated so easily, like an underlying power was waiting to break free when needed. And when I asked about Garrus she got a bit of a knowing smile on her face.

"The turian who worries worse than a new mother? He's probably down in engineering working on that mako. For the first day he wouldn't leave the medbay, not even to eat. Finally I had to argue with him for about half an hour before finally coming to an agreement, told him he would be the first to know when you woke up."

He was that worried? He should know better than to think that a leg wound would do me in, though it was still endearing that he was so dedicated to staying by me when I was hurt. I tried to keep the smile off of my face as I continued speaking with Chakwas, but from the look on her own face I was failing miserably.

"Well, how about you check me out then I head down to engineering?"

"Fine, as long as you don't strain it too much just yet. It still has to heal completely and I don't need to see you back in here for more stitches and what not because you were feeling rambunctious."

"Rambunctious?"

I smiled even more and laughed at her motherly chastising tone, trying to feign a wince as she poked at the covered spot where the wound had been before nodding in approval. No point in telling her that it was more than likely completely healed at this point. I gave her a thank you after promising to be careful and headed out of the medbay, taking in my new surroundings of the Normandy. It was nice and spacey in the mess hall, and the elevator was easy enough to find. As I walked over towards it I heard someone call out to me and I turned to see an average height woman make her way towards me, an obvious air of command around her. She had dark red hair and a slender jawline to fit her frame, ocean blue eyes, and a serious expression that told me she was in charge. This must be the Commander.

As the woman neared me she held out her hand in a formal introduction and as I shook it I made sure to give a smirk. Her grip was firm yet yielding so I knew she meant business.

"FayLynn, good to see you up and about. My name is Commander Shepard of the Normandy, how are you?"

"I'm well thanks to Chakwas, and you can just call me Fay or agent Daye. Whichever you prefer. My name is a bit of a mouth full."

She nodded and let her tight expression loosen up only a fraction before walking towards the elevator with me, continuing the conversation. I noted the way she causally let her hands clasp on to one another behind her back in a military like fashion.

"I'm sorry for being so direct but...would you like to serve with me on this ship to help take down Saren? I've already recruited Garrus by his choice and I would like to have the help of a top agent as well. In fact it was officer Vakarian that had suggested it. And of course I've already talked to Pallin about everything." She looked at me with a certainty that I hadn't seen in anybody in a long time. Her voice was strong and this woman, Shepard, she seemed to know exactly what she needed. If she managed to recruit Garrus then I couldn't really see why I shouldn't hop aboard for the ride as well, that and it wouldn't hurt to sharpen my skills. It had been a while since I had traveled off of the Citadel; a vacation would be nice. My own voice was sure footed and just as strong as I gave her my reply.

"I would be honored Shepard, thank you. Um I was just headed to engineering so If you don't mind I need to go see someone now. But if you would like we can have a debriefing later on and discuss your regulations of the ship...ma'am."

Suddenly remembering who I was talking to exactly I tried to straighten my posture out of respect and gave a mild salute, trying to seem like I wasn't completely incompetent to her rank and leadership aboard this vessel. Sometimes it was just too easy to slip into a casual type feel around C-sec so when it came time to be somewhere else, it was best to make sure you paid attention. Her mouth turned up in a smirk, which was almost surprising to see, and hit the button for me to open the elevator as she spoke. "That sounds like a good plan. And don't worry about your status. As the first human Specter I've made sure that you were reinstated as a full Agent, after reviewing your full file of course."

"Th-thank you ma'am! I am in your debt truly. If there's anything else you need from me please let me know. And congratulations."

She thanked me before heading up to what I was assuming was the command deck. Probably setting a course to wherever we had to go now. I really hoped she wouldn't let that meeting be my first impression because if it had gone as messy as I thought it had, well...yeah. Not a great start.

Shaking my head with a sigh I stepped inside the large metal box of an elevator and pressed the button for engineering, letting the quiet thrum of the ship calm my senses as I waited. I've seen this ship before and you would think that it would be louder on the inside, but the silence was both surprising and enjoyable. The advances of a civilization could really take off quickly if you didn't pay attention. Hell, it seemed as if everything jumped ahead a hundred years after we discovered the mass relays. While my thoughts continued to drift and drone on about the beauty of advancement, I hadn't realized that my eyes had been closed; so when the elevator dinged they immediately opened in surprise and took in the surroundings of the lower deck.

Several lockers were lined up on the wall beside a human woman who seemed to be busy glaring at something across the room, then at the other end of the line was a krogan clad in red armor with a large scar on one side of his face...I'd know that scar anywhere. Slowly stepping out of the elevator with gusto I made my way towards the krogan, keeping quiet enough not to alert the others in the room. But I knew Wrex had already noticed me. When I finally made it about two feet from the merc I saw a smirk appear on his face before he turned towards me, his red eyes calculative and slightly intimidating.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up Agent. Took you long enough."

"Oh can it ya big jerk, got some nice sleep while I was out. So I take it you're with Shepard as well? What the hell is that about. I thought you worked alone."

He nodded his large head and grunted in thought, never uncrossing his arms from across his chest. Always had to keep up that stern looking posture.

"I am. She helped me take down Fist so I agreed to help her take down Saren, this is a good chance for me to kill without being arrested. And as for working alone well...I'm sure a change of pace won't kill me. Yet."

That was Wrex alright, always happy to have a chance to fight. Although he was a bit more tactile than most krogans you would come across. He actually would come up with a plan instead of charging head first into a battle...most of the time.

After another nod in his direction I turned around and made my way towards the Mako, noticing a pair of blue armored legs sticking out from underneath. Knowing exactly who they belong to I made my way over to stand beside him and hooked my foot underneath the protruding leg, then pulled the alien man out from underneath the vehicle with a grin. Although I have to admit I momentarily lost my balance; turians were a lot heavier than they looked.

Garrus's flanged voice was borderline irritated as he didn't see who had interrupted him at first. A wrench and few other odd tools I had never seen were tossed to the side before his head swung around to look at me, mandibles flaring out in surprise since he hadn't expected to see me moving around so soon.

"Who the hell- Fay? Your awake!"

He scrabbled around and tried to stand up as quickly as possible without seeming anxious, though he failed quite noticeably considering his toolbox had been knocked over in all his moving. I smiled at how he acted like an excited puppy who was seeing their owner after vacation, it was a kind of endearing sight; a word that I rarely, if ever, used with my turian counterpart. Expecting him to merely pat me on the head or smile and nod as he usually did my eyes widened and a gasp of surprise left me when I was lifted off of the ground in a soft yet firm hug.

His three fingered, taloned hands held me securely to him and his head was buried in my shoulder, the warmth that radiated off of his form made me feel safe and comfortable. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him back softly, all the while feeling slightly awkward and out of place at being so close all of a sudden. Ever since I had found out about him talking to that Doctor Michele back on the Citadel my instinct had been to try and keep him at arms length, not counting our drinking escapade, and keep things simple. That task seemed to be becoming increasingly difficult by the day. I felt his breath against my neck as he spoke into my shoulder, his words slightly muffled but still understandable.

"When I saw all that blood I thought...it was too much for you to be ok. I couldn't figure out why your body wasn't healing itself."

"I really am ok though Garrus, it's not like I haven't been shot before."

"So that's supposed to make every other time you get shot ok?"

Was that irritation I could hear creeping into his voice? For most species it was very difficult for them to tell when a turian had a change in attitude, especially if it was only a slight change. Removing my arms from a now cold hug I put enough space between us so that I could look him full in the face without tilting my head; damn the height difference to hell. I didn't try to hide the obvious attitude that was now in my voice.

"That's not what I said but whatever. I just came to tell you that I'm awake, so just get back to your car or whatever. My appetite is calling me up to the mess hall." My feet turned my body quickly and I made for the elevator once more, but before I made it two steps his voice stopped me. He almost sounded as he were brooding a bit.

"...are you going back to C-sec?"

Ohhh, so now he wanted to sound concerned after trying to chew me out. I should have been mean and left him hanging, say something like 'yeah, probably.' Unfortunately being that childish just didn't have enough rewards in this argument of ours. If only. I kept my answer short and to the point so as not to draw out our conversation much longer.

"No."

"So Shepard asked you to stay then...good."

"Yeah, she asked me outside of the med-bay after I woke up, seemed like the better option. If Saren is as bad as he seems than he needs to be taken down."

The obviously now awkward turian nodded in stiff agreement and turned towards the Mako without another word, he really seemed to be caught up in that thing from what I saw. Then again, as long as I've known him Garrus always had his head shoved into some type of project that he could work on when he needed to think. I just barely heard him from the spot I was standing at when he spoke.

"Well...you should probably get going if you're hungry, most of the crew will be getting out of their sleeper pods by now so the mess will be packed."

Sleep pods? I hated those things so much. They weren't even close to creating an illusion of comfort for me, they just made me feel boxed in and claustrophobic. I even remember having a fair amount of nightmares when I used them.

"Yeah okay. Bye."

Maybe I should have ended our meeting on a better note but he was the one at fault, it wasn't my job to coddle his attitude whenever it decided to act up. Looking after myself had to come first now that we were on this ship; it wasn't like the academy anymore. I couldn't always rely on someone else to clean up my mess and make sure I did everything right.

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Needles stuck into my skin roughly and burned as if there was a hot poker pressed against my skin, I tried to instinctively cringe away but was held firmly into place by metal restraints and a collar around my neck. This wasn't right, I knew this place and I knew what was going on but this was over 5 years ago that it had happened.

"Trying to resist only makes it worse, just let us work and everything will be fine."

"Fuck you medical dog! I will never let you control me, I won't ever work for you!"

Was that me shouting? It was my voice but I didn't say it...was I relieving this? No,no I couldn't! The pain was too much then and it was too much now. They continued to inject me with serum after serum, each one stinging and inflicting more pain than the last.

How could any human being sit there and do this to another of their own species without feeling some type of guilt or remorse? Wouldn't that just take away their own humanity and completely go against what this damned organization was about? But as I was trying to block out what had been happening the metal bed I was on suddenly began to raise, all of the needles and poking fingers disappearing as quickly as they had come. My voice was panicked when I could no longer see what was happening.

"No stop! Let me go!"

I thrashed and tried to wrench my hands out of the shackles that held me, my nails scraping futilely against the metal and making my hands bleed. The collar around my neck tightened in response to my struggling and sent a jolt of high voltage electricity coursing through out my body; I cried out in pain and tried pull away to no avail. The hot tears that had begun to stream down my face sizzled as they touched the collar. It felt wrong to let them see me cry but at this point the threshold of pain that my body could withstand was being crossed and there was no controlling my reactions.

"Make sure you write down her reactions to the serum and her surroundings, they will prove useful in our future experiments."

"Of course sir, are we ready to being the splicing?"

I panicked even more and began to struggle even harder than before, trying to ignore the pain as I tried to see the face of one of the people around me. What the hell was wrong with them?! And what did they mean by splicing?

"Splicing? What's that?! What are you doing to me?!"

There was a short pause in the noise around me and I held my breath as I heard footsteps move towards me, hot breath suddenly beside me blowing onto my face.

"...We are revolutionizing the way our armies fight. No longer will the turians, krogans, asari, and every other alien race that has looked down on the humans as a whole stand in our way. You will be my first and greatest step into evolution. I do apologize for this whole...process, in advance though; it's a primitive but necessary sacrifice."

"Just put me to sleep for it then! Don't leave me awake like this!"

"Oh I'm afraid that would interfere with our data. Please do try to relax."

As he moved away I heard a high pitched whirring, like something was warming up or preparing itself. If hearing about this hadn't been killing me than the anticipation as I waited for this probable death ray like machine to charge would surely make me perish, the noises becoming louder and louder by the second. The frequency in which the pitch was being emitted made my ears ring painfully, this couldn't be happening right now!

But just as I was wishing for this to end it finally hit me like a very real, very painful brick wall. My entire being was set alight-inside and out-as some type of energy slammed into my body and made my world erupt into a fiery chasm of hell; all that could be heard was the ear splitting screams that left my mouth and made my throat raw. This is where I would die.

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"Agent...Agent Daye! FayLynn wake up!"

A very distressed looking Kaidan shook the screaming woman as she thrashed around in pain, it was as if someone was torturing her. Being an L2 biotic he had been awoken by one of his famous headaches and gone to Chakwas, but as he had been leaving the medbay and moved towards the mess the noise of something banging around hit his ears. It was like someone was throwing their body against the wall continuously.

After following the sound for what seemed like an eternity, his pace quickening as screams of distress began to accompany the thudding. Kaidan had entered the pod rooms to find that the glass was cracking on one of them. The metal walls of it were also heavily dented. He realized after analyzing the form inside that it was one of their newest crew members and assumed she was having some sort of night terror. He knew how awful some of those could be. They always felt so real. He pulled her from the sleeping pod with haste and knelt down with her on to the floor to try and stop her thrashing.

"Stay away from me! Stooop!"

FayLynn's voice was cracking and panicked as she screamed for them to stop, whoever they were. It must be something she was remembering from her past. Kaidan couldn't even imagine the horrors she must had endured to become like this. By now a few more crew members had appeared in the mess to try and find the source of the blood curdling screams, all of them watching Kaidan and Fay with wide eyes. The Lieutenant ignored the prying eyes and continued to hold onto the woman tightly until finally the screams and thrashing stopped, her body going limp in his arms. For a nerve wracking moment he thought she wasn't breathing at all. Her skin was pale and had a sheen of sweat coated it while her once clenched hands had completely relaxed and gone slack.

"Excuse me, let me through please! Kaidan, what happened to her? How long was she like this?"

Dr. Chakwas pushed through the small crowd and made her way over to the biotic and half conscious woman with a mask of professionalism on her face, scanning FayLynn's body quickly for any visible injuries before ushering both of them towards the med bay and away from prying eyes. Once they were in the seclusion of the medical bay the doctor motioned for Kaidan to lay the now partially coherent agent on one of the beds.

"Lay her down on the table quickly, yes right there. I'm going to run a neural scan on her to see what her brain activity looks like."

Fay groaned as she lay on the table and her eyelids continued to flutter open, look around for a minute, never really seeing what was around her, then close again. Chakwas pursed her lips and ran her fingers over the computer with practiced skill, her brain wave signatures seemed to be off of the charts even for a nightmare. It was as if her body was actually experiencing the trauma that she had been dreaming about. Her heart rate had even began to slow and with a start the doctor realized that if it kept going like this, then it was going to stop completely.

Standing from the computer quickly she rummaged around in a draw before pulling out a large looking syringe. She needed to wake her up completely to shock her body out of this trance like state, a good shot of adrenaline should do the trick.

"Alright Kaidan, I'm going to need you to be ready in case she reacts badly to the adrenaline, it's going to be a bit of a shock to her body but I need to get her heart racing to pull her out of this...whatever she's having."

The Lieutenant nodded, eyes filled with worry, and stood ready near the top of the bed, watching closely as Chakwas prepped the needle quickly. It wasn't until her patients heart had completely stopped suddenly that she only hesitated for a second longer, looking at Kaidan with confidence, and then plunged the syringe into FayLynn's chest. As the biotic man watched he almost felt a bit afraid of the good doctor as he noticed the look of determination and concentration on her face. He didn't want to get into a fight with her anytime soon. No more than 2 seconds after she administered the adrenaline the body of the woman before them shot up with a yell, her chest rising and falling with the rapid gasping breaths she was taking.

"Now now slow down my dear, try to slow your breathing a bit. You're safe now, remember? You're on the Normandy."

Fay's green eyes darted around the room until they finally landed on Chakwas, though still a bit shaky her body seemed to calm down and her breathing slowed. Chakwas placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to reassure her that she was safe, and shone a low light into her eyes with the other hand. Watching as her currently heavily dilated pupils contracted to small slits she sighed and nodded to the man beside her, her face tired from being awoken so suddenly; though also relieved that the problem was dealt with.

"Well, she seems to be stable now and her heart rate is slowing back down to a normal level. Tell me, Fay, do you remember what you were dreaming about?"

She really didn't want to think about it considering a needle had just been plunged into her chest, effectively pulling her from a life threatening night terror and keeping her heart from stopping all together. But if the doctor needed to know then it must be with good reason right?

"I...lights. Bright lights, and surgical equipment...there were these voices. They were talking about me as if I were just a piece of meat for their experiments...the laser. They were all memories from when I had been with...some company, when I was about 14...I guess my mind had just suppressed most of them until now."

Her hands shook while she talked and her voice wavered a bit as if she was hesitating, the experience had obviously left her shaken and talking about it wasn't making it any better. As Chakwas listened and Kaidan closed his eyes in disgust, he knew people could be cruel but this...doing this to a child was just unforgivable. Sighing heavily, partially from being tired and partly from feeling sympathetic, the doctor placed a hand on to FayLynn's shoulder gently.

"We need to get you something to help you sleep-"

"No!"

Both Kaidan and Chakwas looked at her with widened eyes as she raised her voice, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment as she realized what she did. It wasn't that Fay had meant to sound harsh, but sleep was the last thing that she wanted at the moment.

"I mean, I'll be fine. Could you just...not mention this to anyone? I just get nightmares is all, this has happened before. It's nothing serious." Her ears flattened against her head and she looked towards the floor in shame, not wanting to make eye contact with either of the people standing before her now. Kaidan threw his hands up in exclamation and paced slightly as he grew agitated. It hadn't been more than a few days and already something serious had happened aboard the ship without them even having gone in to battle.

"Nothing serious? I just watched you practically seize from a dream! That's hardly something I would call ok."

"Yes well it's not anyone's business but my own so just keep it to yourself."

"But you-"

"Kaidan, that's enough. Let her be."

Although Chakwas wanted more than anything to help FayLynn, she could see that it was a touchy subject so she merely nodded with a soft smile and patted her on the back. Watching as the younger woman smiled back and made her way out of the med bay while rubbing the sleep, or what sleep she had gotten, from her eyes. Nothing short of a difficult path was laid out for that one, that much the doctor knew. With any luck this whole mission of Shepard's would bring some type of solace, or distraction, to her. Turning towards Alenko with a tired look in her eyes Chakwas patted him on the shoulder and began to make her way back to her bed for some much needed rest; hopefully the rest of her sleeping hours were uneventful and undisturbed.


	6. Chapter 6

_**New Chapter yay! And for future reference I write situations that have never happened in game how I perceive them, but also how I think they would go as best as possible. If I am not doing a very good job please let me know and throw some notes in how I should improve it. Enjoy!**_

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The days seemed to blur together for FayLynn as her sleep patterns became more and more irregular. Some nights she wouldn't even bother going to sleep. She would just sit at the table in the mess hall with a cup of tea, a bottle of caffeine pills, and just stare at the wall. Her eyes not seeing anything but the dull gray of metal because her mind was just a jumble of words that didn't seem to make sense. People would talk to her or mumble things to one another as they passed by and the words would just go in one ear and out the other, nothing seeming to evoke a reaction from her in the state she was in.

Some of the crew thought this was going to compromise her mental and physical capabilities on the field because she seemed so out of it, but she proved them wrong and surprised the rest of her team when she showed up in the shuttle bay looking as well rested as ever the day of a mission. It had been almost two weeks since they had left the Citadel and Shepard had picked up a lead on an attacked mining team. FayLynn's emerald green eyes were bright and her smile nearly floored Garrus with its charisma as she approached them. His mandibles flared out in surprise as he watched her and Shepard stepped past the surprised turian to address the woman.

"I am relieved to see you down here agent. I asked Chakwas if you were well enough to go on a mission and she didn't give me a straight answer. Glad to see you're ok."

"Thanks Shepard. I had some trouble with sleep the past few days yes, but I've finally corrected my problem and have been cleared for duty." What Fay hadn't mentioned was how she had Chakwas give her a sleeping aid the past two nights that knocked her out for about 8-9 hours at a time. Luckily nobody had noticed her missing for that long and she had been able to get away with the extended amount of rest. It had allowed her body to kind of reset itself and restore the proper functionality she needed to go on missions.

The Commander nodded with a stern look and hopped into the Mako followed by Ashley, Garrus, and then Fay herself; all of them except the commander grimacing at the thought of having to drop in the Mako. No one ever enjoyed the descent considering it tended to be a bit bumpy and felt terrifying, but for some reason Shepard didn't mind as much. And she found the reaction from everybody else in the vehicle to be quite amusing. As the Normandy entered the atmosphere of the planet Frintac the ship barely jolted before stabilizing and opening the shuttle bay doors. Shepard's voice was stern and commanding as she spoke a warning over the comms, looking over her shoulder at the three other passengers.

"Here we go team, brace yourselves."

"Yeah you said it, lets pass out the neck braces-ooof!"

Garrus's witty comment was cut off as he winced when Fay elbowed him in the gut, but the turian continued to chuckle all the while. His two-toned voice always became a bit more pronounced when he laughed. Most turians had very distinct voices, each one having a flanged undertone, but Fay had never really noticed Garrus's as much as the others. Maybe it was because she saw him not as a turian but just as a man, or maybe because she was simply unobservant. Whatever the case was it didn't matter, all she knew was that his voice always brought light to her life and made her happy...most of the time. Garrus didn't get to act happy at C-sec and he didn't get to show immense emotion when he was around his father, so as he continued to chuckle she began to laugh as well, covering her mouth to try and hide the wide smile that had appeared onto her face.

"Hey your mouth still knows how to smile huh? You've been so distant and spaced out lately I had thought you'd gone crazy or something. It was a bit unsettling for me I have to admit." He tried not to sound too concerned, knowing that she didn't like to be mother hened as the humans put it.

Her smiled stayed though as she removed her hand and she leaned near him to try and tell him how he shouldn't worry and maybe they should put on their helmets, but suddenly the whole vehicle jolted and shook as they were dropped from the ship and neared the planet's surface. Neither FayLynn nor Garrus had time to react as their bodies were thrown about, only barely kept in place by the harness's, and their heads crashed together painfully. A crack sounded out and both of them groaned in pain while rubbing the spots where their craniums had made contact just moments before. As they both suffered from the lack of attention Ashley laughed to herself on the inside of her own firmly locked helmet and watched the spectacle with mild interest.

"Damn the gods! You have a hard head Vakarian!"

"Bless the spirits I should tell you the same Daye!"

As both soldiers continued to rub their heads and then put their helmets on the Commander chuckled from behind the wheel, stopping the Mako to turn around and look at her team with amusement gleaming in her eyes behind the visor.

"How was the landing for you guys? It wasn't too bad for me."

Grunts answered the Commander and she turned back to continue driving. Their destination was a mining site that had not reported in for little over a week and was believed to have been taken over by geth. Hopefully they could rescue some, if not all the miners and possibly be provided with another clue to Saren's whereabouts. As Shepard drove over the mostly smooth surface of the planet she noticed that there were a few anomalies on the radar. They would have to stop and check them out on the way back to the pickup zone. Lately she had been finding an awful lot of wreckage's and lone travelers corpses that bore insignias of certain colonies and Hackett has been giving her extra credits when she happened to turn them in.

"Any idea why the geth went after this mine?" Ashley questioned Shepard as she loaded her assault rifle and checked it, casually getting a debrief before they headed in.

"No. The miner who had set up the SOS had been in too much of a hurry to go into detail with it. they just stressed that we get there soon."

The motion tracker on the Mako blipped as they finally reached the mining site and Shepard opened the door just as she hit the brakes. Dirt and dust flew through the air as the team hastily exited the vehicle and made their way towards the building, its entrance holding clear evidence of a firefight. Everyone pulled out their weapons, their guard now up, and moved quietly inside the mining tunnel. The Commander, now nothing but business, looked to her squad over her shoulder momentarily to make sure they were all at the ready. Her voice as neutral as an elcors and her face hidden from view by her helmet.

"Alright the miner had said they were trapped in a room closest to the shipping crates and that the geth hadn't been able to break in. Hopefully we're not too late so let's move it."

The teams' footsteps echoed eerily in the metal corridor as they made their way towards the main chamber of the construct, the air growing damp as they went deeper into the planet. Bullet marks littered the walls and the doors. FayLynn noticed that there were husk spikes around, but no actual husks. This raised alarm bells in her mind and she stopped momentarily to point out the oddity to her Commander.

"Shepard. I see the spikes that geth use to make the husks, but where did the husks go?"

"I'm not sure. We need to keep our senses on high alert in case they're waiting to ambush us. Garrus, anything on your radar?"

"Nothing, but the miners SOS signal is about 20 yards from here."

Shepard nodded and opened the final door that led to the main mining room, looking around for enemies with her weapon raised, then lowered it when she saw none. She motioned for her team to move in and sweep the room, but just as the Commander was giving everyone the signal a missile flew past her head and hit the wall a few feet behind them making the whole corridor rumble and shake while debris fell from the ceiling. The whole teams' senses were immediately on high alert as everybody pointed their weapon in the direction that the missile came from. The Commanders voice was full of authority and created a sense of haste.

"Geth. Everyone take cover!"

* * *

I watched in horror as another missile made its way towards us, this time with a little more accuracy, and I yelled to Ashley and Garrus to move. I ran towards one of the crates in the main room and left the confines of the hall, finally having enough room to defend myself and fire off a few rounds without being shot in the face. I noticed Garrus had taken refuge behind a larger crate a few feet across from me and was looking through the scope of his rifle, not waiting more than a second before firing off three rounds in secession. Geth after geth fell to the ground as we fired round after round. Every now and then I threw a singularity in the mix to hold them in place while Shepard overloaded their shields. I wasn't keeping track of how long we had been fighting, but I was pulled from my concentration when Garrus shouted out to nobody in particular. I think he was just voicing his opinion on the current situation.

"How many are left? There seems to be an endless stream of them!"

"Scanners show only three left- Agh!"

Ashley's reply was cut off mid-sentence and her arm was thrown back as a bullet pierced through her shield and bit through her armor making the soldier yell out in pain and hit the ground, holding her shoulder tightly. I wanted to run over and apply some medigel but Shepard was already on it, applying a generous amount to her teammates wound before putting a temporary plug on her armor and getting back into the action. My nerves were calmed now at seeing that the team was safe and I listened as Williams thanked our commander. "Thanks Shepard, I owe you... again."

I grinned to myself as Ashley's sincere yet slightly spiteful voice sounded over the comm link. She always had to be the best and when she wasn't she threw a fit. Maybe there was more to it than that but from my side it was just annoying. Shaking my head and flicking my tail I focused back on the fight and looked through the scope of my carnifex, holding my breath as I fired off two rounds and taking down two geth with them. It may not be the biggest gun, but the pistol packed a hell of a punch; especially with tungsten rounds that increased the damage to synthetics. I began to line up another shot carefully, squeezing the trigger back slowly. Unfortunately, a certain turian found it appropriate to shout out at that exact moment and caused my shot to veer off to the left, pegging a different geth in the chest and taking it down. Oh, well. Guess I technically made the shot.

"Headshot! And that's fifty points for getting the last one."

He always had to get the last one, didn't he? Garrus stood and shifted his weight to one side as he put his rifle onto his back, ego swelling immensely from being able to show his skills off. I stood as well and made my way towards the rest of the group before we began to walk towards the locked door and into the room where the SOS signal was coming from. When the door opened, a few screams sounded out, probably because the surviving miners thought we were geth, and Shepard almost seemed to sigh in relief at having saved some lives. As for the miners, well, most of them were to scared and too busy pissing themselves to even move, but what seemed to be the leader of the group stepped forward and had a few medigels in hand.

"Thank you Commander for saving us! We would have been dead if the geth were given another minute, please take these supplies in thanks. Your crew must need them." What was that supposed to mean? Jerk. Fortunately, Shepard either didn't think that same thing I did or she was simply more composed and held up a hand.

"No problem, and make sure everyone's ok first before you give me what little supplies you have left. A ship should be on its way soon to take all of you back to the Citadel."

My respect for the woman in front of me seemed to be well placed. She may seem like a hard ass on the outside, but I could see through her little facade and notice that she was a kind soul. While it was true that the attack on the colony Mindoir left her traumatized and without much, if any family, she had only become strong because of it. Sometimes I felt like saying something since I knew what it felt like to have your family taken away even though I hadn't known the Commander for long, but something told me that I would know when the time was right. For now, I would observe and follow.

Another round of thanks was passed around and as soon as all the miners were checked over and accounted for we began to head out of the station, picking up stray rounds of ammo from all the dead geth as we did so. I had lagged back to make sure the geth were truly dead, gathering extra parts from their circuit boards and whatnot, when I happened to notice Garrus was about a foot away trying to act interested in something. I say trying because it was all too obvious that he wasn't interested in whatever he had in his hands, his eyes darting up towards me every few seconds. I continued to act like he wasn't there until finally my turian friend finally spoke up.

"So why weren't you sleeping Fay?"

"I'm sorry what?"

I turned towards him and raised an eyebrow, trying to act naive and unaware of what he was asking.

"Sleeping. Why weren't you sleeping well this past week, every time I saw you it was like you had been turned into a husk, not that you looked awful but... well you looked awful."

"It was just some bad dreams Garrus that's all. I asked Chakwas for a sleep aid and got a well-rested sleep the past two days, good as new... did I really look like a husk?" I loved to mess with him and act like my feelings were hurt sometimes and I almost dropped the sad puppy look as he stumbled over his words, trying to do something with his hands. He also stuttered horribly and tried to force out a response. Poor guy.

"Um no! I meant that you just looked tired you know? But you still looked... well good, in a good way I mean good you know?"

"So I looked terrible but in a good way?"

"No no no! Oh, spirits I am not doing very well am I?"

I walked towards him and placed my hand on his arm in a comforting gesture, it was endearing how flustered he was right now. My reassured smile made him slightly relax, though his mandibles were still held tight against his face.

"Garrus I'm kidding, I know I looked like shit and I wouldn't expect you to sugar coat it for me just to save my feelings. And thanks... I appreciate that you were worried about my well-being."

He sighed heavily, mandibles flaring slightly, and looked down at me with his piercing blue eyes; trying to analyze me like a math equation. Fortunately, if there was one thing that I was good at it was blocking anyone's advances of trying to read me like a book. I preferred not to have my emotions on display for everyone to see.

"But if it saved me from making you upset then I would have coated it with as much 'sugar' as I needed, and it would have probably helped me not make an ass out of myself. Although I'm pretty sure I already have. Fay...I don't want you to feel like you have to put these walls up around yourself again."

His voice softened as he spoke and I could see hesitation in his eyes as he seemed to inch closer towards me...what was he doing?! I could practically feel the heat radiating between the two of us as there was no more than a few inches of space between our chests. We had taken our helmets off after finding the miners so our breath mingled freely in the air between our mouths, creating an addicting scent mix of his unusual cool metal and gunpowder smell with my natural pine and honey scent. There was no denying in my mind, and my body, that I held an attraction for this turian... this man. But I wasn't ready... I couldn't do this yet. I averted my emerald gaze and tried to focus on the water that was dripping from the ceiling, trying not to sound nervous. The tension in my body was painfully visible.

"Garrus...we need to catch up to Shepard before we get left."

"She wouldn't leave us."

As he spoke barely above a whisper now, his breath fanning across my face, I let my eyes close slowly. I suppose there wasn't any harm in enjoying this moment of serenity between us amongst everything. My eyes closed slowly and it was then that I felt his forehead touch mine ever so slightly, the plates warm against my skin. A sharp intake of breath escaped me at the contact and my eyes flew open to look into his before an embarrassed blush covered my cheeks at the intimate move. Why did he choose to do this now? In turian culture touching foreheads was like how humans kissed, just with no mouth contact or saliva. Was this weird? I felt like it was getting kind of weird.

"Garrus, Fay, let's move it! We need to get back to the Normandy to report."

Thank the gods for Shepard. At her voice crackling to life over the comm link we quickly broke apart and looked away from one another, knowing that it was too intimate of a moment for 'friends'. Throwing our helmets back on we made our way towards the exit tunnel and kept at least two feet of distance between us. As we both made it to the exit door Garrus tilted his head my way before speaking. Even through his helmet I could hear the embarrassment in his voice and could only assume that his mandibles were flicking in agitation.

"Um I think we should-"

"I couldn't agree more."

The ride back to the Normandy was quiet and awkward as Garrus and myself had no choice but to sit beside one another, our bodies touching and pushing against each other while the bumps of the Mako jostled us. One particularly hefty bump shifted the clip on my harness in a stroke of unbelievably bad luck and it came undone, sending me sprawling over Garrus's lap awkwardly.

"Ahhhgh!"

"Something wrong back there Daye?" Shepard's voice was its usual monotone, though it sounded lighter than usual. Was she...enjoying this? Something in my mind told me yes, yes she was. And I also wouldn't put it past the Commander that she was hitting the big bumps on purpose. I growled slightly in response and carefully readjusted myself back in to my seat, mindful of where I put my hands, before crossing my arms huffing. The sooner this ride was over the better. After what felt like an eternity Shepard finally radioed Joker for pick up.

"Joker we're ready for pick up."

"Aye Aye Commander."

Pickups always made me nervous for some reason. Maybe it was because in the Mako I didn't have much of a way to evade anything if it happened, or the way it felt being in the Mako as the Normandy took off into the farther reaches of space and I felt an almost weightless feeling as it did so. Whatever the reason I merely closed my eyes and clenched my fists until we were cleared to exit the vehicle. Upon hearing the beeping clearing us of all danger I practically jumped out and landed on all fours, stretching all my limbs one by one before standing once more. How good it felt to be out of there I couldn't describe. Wrex chuckled at my antics and I cracked my neck before walking casually over towards the battle hardened krogan.

"Was kitten feeling cramped? Ha you always were a bit skittish in the rovers on Tuchunka."

"Can it Wrex, it was just a little bumpy is all. So, did you finish the modifications to my new helmet?"

The gruff, red-eyed krogan nodded and held out the object in question to me and I quickly took it from him, cradling my new and improved helmet. I could tell by the look on Wrex's face that he was feeling quite accomplished at his new handiwork.

"I must say that I'm particularly proud of this one. I've installed all new motion detectors and radar along with a supple yet comfortable interior padding so it doesn't smash those ears of yours so painfully. Oh, and now it can form down into a hood as well. The quarian helped me with that part."

I examined my new helmet carefully, noticing how the paint was touched up and the metal was buffed to a shine. I tossed aside the standard crew supplied helmet I had been given on the ship and slipped my own personal one on just to make sure it fit as comfortably as he said. My eyes shined brightly when I barely felt the uncomfortable sensation I usually did when wearing a helmet and I nearly purred as I thanked him.

"This is awesome Wrex! I didn't know you could do all this. Thank you."

"Yeah well I owe you a favor here and there. Press the button on the right side."

I mewed in delight as my helmet transformed into a hood when I pressed said button, the metal folding in on itself and a microfiber like material coming out to drape over the sides of my head. I was so into my new piece of armor that I barely noticed the rest of the team staring at me like I had completely lost my mind. Maybe it was all the strange noises I was making as I continued to coo over the hood; purring and meowing like I had been given a ball of string to play with.

"Wow. She seems really happy right now."

"Is she purring? I didn't know she did that."

"Listen to her meow haha."

Finally realizing what I was doing and who was watching I snapped my gaze over to the small crowd that had been watching me intently and gave an embarrassed smirk. Almost like a kid who had been caught trying to open a present early on Christmas eve. All who were there grinned and shook their heads before dispersing to their stations and/or bunks, it was time to wind down and rest up before the next mission. In the span of a few minutes everyone had gone and all that remained were Garrus and Wrex.

"What? I love it ok? I haven't had something this comfortable in years."

"Well I'm glad to be of service Daye. Garrus."

The krogan nodded to both I and my turian counterpart, grunted and walked back over to stand near the lockers with his arms crossed and his face stern as ever. A solid statue of muscle and intimidation. I removed my helmet and hooked it on to my belt before turning towards the elevator, but I paused for a moment as Garrus spoke.

"Hungry?"

"Um actually yeah, I think I could go for a snack before taking a nap."

"Yes, a natural nap. Meaning one not induced by medicine."

"Of course." My voice was causal though I knew that he was still a little unimpressed by how I had handled my problem. He would get over it eventually.

We both walked towards the elevator and stepped inside. I waited silently as he hit the button for the lobby, neither one of us making as sound as it slowly closed and began it upwards climb. Of course, it would only have the one meticulous speed of agonizingly slow.

I knew that as we stood there the man beside me was wondering what nightmares had kept me from sleeping, but that wasn't something I wanted to share just yet. I mean, it wasn't like I had done anything bad...but it wasn't a pleasant story. At realizing this I began to fidget a bit, suddenly feeling uncomfortable in the small space with the turian. But just when I thought it couldn't get any worse the elevator suddenly groaned horrendously and an awful noise, possibly metal screeching on metal, made us both cover our ears against the terrible sound before it suddenly stopped...along with the elevator.

* * *

Garrus let his thoughts roam as he continued to pace in the now stationary elevator that he and FayLynn had been sitting in for about ten minutes now. Apparently, there had been a problem with the pulley system and the gears that controlled them. It was the year 2183 and there was still the problem of damned elevators breaking down and the mechanics taking their time.

"Alright guys we're working on it now so just hang tight ok? It seems to be a little more complicated than we first thought."

"It's the year 2183 and we still have trouble fixing damn elevators?! And to top it off it's as hot as the freaking sun in here."

After expressing her discomfort Fay had leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms as she watched, slightly amused, while Garrus continued to pace back and forth like an anxious father to be...except in this case they were stuck in an elevator. She felt a bit less uncomfortable since his mind had been distracted, but none the less she figured that it was better to swallow her pride and tell him now while they were alone. It was hard to catch some privacy these days.

"Why don't you stop pacing Garrus? They're probably going to have us out of here in the next few minutes. Wanna come sit with me?"

"I suppose I can sit for a minute, I'm just feeling a bit confined."

The turian walked over to Fay and waited until she had scooted herself over before he sat, making sure to keep at least three feet between them. He was surprised that she wasn't smelling anything yet, or not that he noticed she had, but his senses were going haywire as the mixture of sweat, adrenaline from the mission, and the hormones that were still raging through them from their shared moment back at the mining site. His sense of smell was picking up everything. Not that Garrus couldn't control his self but seeing her skin begin to shine with sweat and her pupils dilate from the low light wasn't helping.

"Garrus are you okay?"

"I'm sorry wh-what?"

He must have zoned out into his own thoughts and not realized that she had been talking. FayLynn continued to watch him with her eyebrows pulled down into a confused look, worry lines etched into her forehead like the worn spine of a well-read book. Maybe now wasn't the best time to bring up her own problems. Garrus had seated himself a few feet away from her and seemed to have his body turned away as if he were avoiding looking at her. Had she done something to upset him? Her voice was tinged with teasing, but deep down she was truly worried.

"Are you ok Vakarian? I don't have a disease you know."

"No it's just a little hot so I'm just keeping enough space between us for air flow. It's not you."

FayLynn would have believed him a little better if not for the hesitation and wavering of his voice as he spoke to her, not turning his head to look at her as he did so and effectively keeping her scent from reaching him for the moment. He didn't want to offend her but it was the only way from keeping his self from jumping her in that elevator; why was he acting like such an adolescent right now? And on top of that worry his heart thumped painfully at seeing her ears lower in what could only be described as a form of rejection.

"Oh...ok."

Clinks and whirring could be heard as the technician continued to work on the offending piece of machinery, not bothering to put all his effort into the job knowing who was stuck in the elevator. The whole crew had been placing bets on the two trapped in the steel box after their second week on the ship; it being clear that there was something more than a simple friendship stirring between them.

Time continued to crawl inside the elevator as neither soldier looked at the other. Fay began to play with a piece of her hair whilst Garrus took off his visor to re calibrate it, needing something to distract his mind. Unfortunately, the air decided to kick back on, which may have seemed like a blessing but in all reality, it wasn't helping now. FayLynn's head tilted up to let the breeze cool off her skin but suddenly something hit her. A certain smell to be exact. She wasn't quite sure what it was so she inhaled quietly yet deeply to try and pinpoint it; and that's when she realized why Garrus had been acting so off. She had been giving off strong pheromones. Unintentionally of course.

It was her fault that he was so uncomfortable and stand offish, but he was too much of a gentleman to say anything about it. Usually turians wouldn't have a problem with that particular smell out in the open, but here, in an enclosed, heated box and with both of their bodies still running off the adrenaline from the mission; it had to have been at least ten times as strong as it would usually be. Not to mention the sweat that also acted as a form of aphrodisiac. Now more than ever did she curse the fact that turians had the sharpest sense of smell out of all the major council species.

She knew that she should feel guilty and pity that he had been struggling with this, hell, it felt wrong to her. But at the same time, it felt... well... not wrong. A more wild and feral part of her wanted him to know that she hadn't rejected him. It was just going to take a bit of time to warm up. The human part of her was ashamed, nervous, and embarrassed to be this moved and agitated. She was supposed to be able to control herself not act like a hormone addled teen. Maybe they were stuck in this elevator for a reason.

"Hey Garrus."

As FayLynn turned to look at her turian companion nothing could have prepared her as his body came barreling at her.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Hello, a few minor fixes have been made such as punctuation/grammer and the like!**_

* * *

He couldn't stop, he had to do something before it got a little weird in this elevator and Garrus wouldn't be able to look at Fay ever again. But what could he do that would help sate his urges?...Maybe if he tried to embrace the smell instead of trying to fight it he could gain a little more control. It couldn't hurt to try.

"Garrus I-"

FayLynn began to speak, probably to try and pry information out of him, but before she could finish he dove at her and knocked her to the floor of the elevator. He tried to be mindful so he didn't hurt her, but it couldn't be helped since they both still had all of their armor on.

"Ooof!"

The wind was knocked from her lungs as his weight landed on top of her own and she instinctively tried to wriggle out from under him, but as she tried to move Garrus used his steely grip and took a hold of her shoulders firmly; though he was careful not to inflict any pain upon her. The touch of his hands on her shoulders stopped all of Fay's movement, her eyes widening in surprise and her breathing picking up in pace from the feeling. Every ounce of confusion in her body could be heard in her voice as she spoke.

"What are you-"

"Please trust me. I can't..."

His breathing was ragged as he looked into her eyes for the first time since the elevator became stuck, seeing an apology not bothering to hide in their depths, and FayLynn gasped at their intensity. Garrus proceeded to then, gently, lower his head to her neck and press his face against the spot right below where her human ears would be if she still possessed them, inhaling deeply. The smell was intoxicating and a rush all at the same time. It was like taking a dive from a moving car or chasing down and catching a criminal you had been pursuing. He felt FayLynn's body tense immediately as she gasped and uttered his name with a noise of shock.

"Garrus!"

"I'm sorry, I know this is crossing the line but the smell-" As soon as he mentioned it she immediately relaxed. Her skin began to heat up in embarrassment and she slapped a hand over her face to hide her expression.

"I know about it Garrus and I'm sorry too. I should have controlled myself, I'm so embarrassed! Oh my spirits I'll never live this down!."

He chuckled at that and snuggle a little deeper into her hair, enjoying the feeling of being close to the one he cared for.

"You're embarrassed? I'm the one who tackled you and is buried into your neck like some sort of parasite, but I am feeling a bit better now."

Fay smiled softly and began to purr, the noise was deep and vibrated throughout her whole being until they were both shaking with the noise. Her hand went to his fringe and stroked it lightly in comfort, dispersing the tension in the enclosed space and bringing about a feeling of peace and serenity. Neither one said anything as the moment stretched on, simply enjoying the feeling of belonging and closeness. FayLynn was still incredibly embarrassed about the whole situation, considering she had been aroused no more than a few seconds ago, but it had settled in to a comfortable feeling. There was now nothing sexual or perverse about their embrace, it was simply a connection between friends. That was when the mechanic finally finished his repairs.

The metal contraption groaned as the gears whirred to life and the slight jostle of the lift moving once more surprised both the human and the turian currently laying on the floor. Both of them sprang apart and quickly stood to try and seem like nothing had happened. Fay picked her helmet up off of the floor from where it had fallen and then slipped it on so that no one could see her blush. Being a turian Garrus didn't have to worry about anyone figuring out what he was feeling so he just settled for keeping his helmet off for now. As soon as the doors opened the bashful agent slipped past the few people that had been waiting and headed up to the observation deck. For now she would try to put some distance between her and her turian friend so they could both cool off; though the moment was one to remember. A perceptive pair of brown eyes followed both of the crew members as they exited the elevator.

"What got into her?"

Kaidan eyed the spot where FayLynn had just disappeared before turning to Garrus, expecting the turian to have the answer. Of course he did, but he wasn't going to tell the oh so curious Lieutenant. Instead the sniper played it off like he had no idea what was going on.

"Um not sure. I think she mentioned something about a joke she wanted to tell Joker. Ironic right?"

"Huh, yeah. Ironic. Well if you see her before I do again tell her that the food she requested is in the mess hall."

"Will do."

And with that the biotic shrugged it off and went back to his station to tinker. Good thing Alenko didn't look too far into other people's business or Garrus would have caved. Now feeling like he really needed something to eat the turian made his way over to the mess and looked through all the dextro amino foods that they had stocked up on. Maybe he would be able to get a restful sleep later on when his mind had cleared up.

"You wanna fuck Garrus!"

"Joker stop it! Don't be a child. And I don't want to fuck Garrus!"

"Then why was he buried in your neck on the elevator...and why did you let him?!"

"Rrrrgh! Erase those now!"

I wanted to grab the pilot by his neck and throttle him until all the little bones in his body were shattered into a million different pieces! I had merely come up here to relax and chat, but no, the annoyingly quick pilot had to bring up the footage from the elevator and accuse me of 'getting busy' with my teammate. The notion was ridiculous... I would never start something like that in an elevator. But that wasn't the point right now.

I continued to struggle with him and make him erase the footage when all of a sudden, a very authoritative voice sounded out behind us, making both of our bodies freeze and our heads turn. A guilty look crossed both Joker's and my own face.

"What are you two doing? We are supposed to be closing in on Therum to get Liara T'Soni yet we seem to be off schedule." Shepard had her hands on her hips and her icy blue eyes were narrowed suspiciously. It wasn't until she let her composure slip only slightly that I realized what she was doing. Fortunately for the both of us the ginger-haired man beside me got hung up as soon as he heard the words 'off schedule'. The man probably didn't even know what they meant.

Jokers eyes nearly bugged out of his head at her words and I barely contained the burst of laughter that threatened to escape me at the sight. Not many were able to tell when Shepard was taking a jab at you, but there was always that telltale gleam in her eyes when she did it. Even soldiers had to feel sometimes; we weren't machines built for war...or at least everyone else around me wasn't.

"That's impossible there's no way that we- Hey wait a minute! We're on exact time Commander what the hell?! Why would you yank me around like that?" His brows pulled down in irritation and his voice went up in pitch as he half whined half tried to sound irritated towards our superior. I could tell she wasn't buying it my eyes gleamed as she merely smirked in response while answering.

"Because I love to torture little children."

Her tone was matter of fact and I couldn't help but let the laughter flow freely now, oh how this crew picked on one another put me to tears. Ever since I had joined this little expedition to take down a rouge specter there hadn't been a moment yet when I regretted it. Yes, sometimes it got rough and we would be down on our luck, but that didn't stop nor deter us in the least. Determination is what drove us and Shepard was chocked full of the stuff. No to mention she was one of the most skilled and amazing N7 operatives to ever graduate from the program.

There was always action and adventure, no C-sec to hold me back with all their rules, and my agent status had been put into full effect once more. Although now that I thought about it I did miss Sterling an awful lot; the poor little Nalpa was probably confused as to why I hadn't returned yet. And even though I had Trace looking after him it didn't put my feelings at ease. What if he didn't get enough food? Or what if Trace didn't exercise and walk him enough? Nalpas got very destructive when their extra energy wasn't run off properly!

"Why don't you get some sleep Fay, you look like you could use it."

"Huh?"

I looked at Shepard in confusion and blinked a few times. I really had to stop spacing out like that; getting drawn in to my thoughts usually made me over-think just about everything. That in turn made small situations seem like the biggest problems in the galaxy. I leveled my stare with my Commander's blue one as she kept talking, obviously not deterred that I hadn't been listening all that much.

"Sleep. Go get it. I'm glad that you've been feeling better but the only way to keep that up is too stay on a healthy sleep schedule."

There was no denying the order in her voice at this point and all I could do was nod and excuse myself quietly. I knew she was just making sure that her crew stayed in good shape, and I appreciated that, but the underlying fear of the nightmares coming back was just too much. I looked at my omni-tool and saw that the time read as 10:00. When had it gotten that late? Had I really been sitting up in the observation deck for four hours? Damn my sense of time was really off. It was then that I looked up and realized that I was in front of the elevator's panel, unsure of where I wanted to go or do. If I went to try and sleep in my pod then I would just end up sitting there for hours and worry myself into a coma...but maybe there was somewhere else I could go to sleep.

Deciding on the second option I hit the button to engineering and let the elevator go through its slow descent. The lights passed by me and illuminated the metal of the box like streetlamps on a sidewalk. So many things were passing through my mind right now. What would happen after we caught Saren and brought him back to the Citadel to be convicted and put on trial? Even if we did take him out there was still the problem of these so called 'Reapers'. If they were real then we, and by we I mean Shepard, had to convince the Council to take action and prepare. And then there were my own personal problems.

Whether or not I should come clean about my past, telling Garrus about where my nightmares came from...I didn't know if these things would help ease my conscious or just make me nervous. Never in my life have I felt normal, not even after I had met Garrus and Nira, and they were the closest... Garrus **is** the closest person to me now. I blinked harshly to clear the slight rush of tears that I felt welling up. No. It was going to be ok, I could do this. With my feelings of determination in place I composed myself and stepped out of the elevator, making my way over towards the Mako; rounding the side of it and finding what I knew I would.

Garrus didn't like to sleep in the pods either so he chose to make a bed for himself down in engineering. Shepard allowed it without any complaints and now, as I stood here waiting for him to notice that I was standing there, I could see why he liked it. No one was usually down here at this time of night besides Wrex and the lights were dimmed quite a bit. The thrum of the Normandy's engine could be heard but it wasn't loud enough to be disturbing, instead it created a type of lulling background noise that one could easily fall asleep to. It wasn't until a flanged voice spoke up and jarred me from my thoughts.

"Fay? What're you doing down here this late? Everything alright?"

"I..." Of course, I wouldn't have anything to say when it came time. Nice going there champ.

My eyes focused on how he was lying back on his bed, propping his head up so that he could read the holo pad he was holding in front of his face. Great. And here I thought I had all this confidence, but when push came to shove I couldn't string together a simple coherent sentence. Just had to relax, it was only Garrus. Hopefully he didn't see how my tail was frizzing up because I feel like that would be a clear indicator of my stress at the moment. Were my ears laying flat on my head right now? Rgggh, just focus. Finally finding the words that I wanted to speak for the most part I began speaking once more.

"Um. I was wondering if... maybe if you didn't mind...I don't want to impose but..." I really needed to control that stutter of mine if I ever wanted to make a complete sentence. This of course made Garrus suspect me even more and turn his full attention to me.

"You okay?"

He was now standing and had moved to place a hand on my arm in comfort, the holo pad tossed aside and forgotten. His armor had been removed earlier and he was in much more casual attire than I usually saw him in.; it was kind of weird seeing him like this. I took a breath and didn't look at his face as I spoke, not wanting to lose my nerves again. My hands had automatically moved to grab my tail and run it through my hands, sort of a fidgety habit I had acquired over the years. Breathe in, breathe out.

"I wanted to talk to you about my nightmares..."

The words were so quiet that I almost didn't hear them myself. This was going to be very difficult, that I could already tell. But it was something I wanted to do. I knew that I could trust telling this to him without facing any backlash. As he answered me his voice was just as quiet and gentle, like I was a caged animal he was trying not to scare.

"Of course. You know that if there's anything that you need to tell me then I'll be here to listen. C'mon, let's sit down."

He pulled me back over to his bed, moving his sniper rifle to lean against the mako, and we both sat on the edge. My hands immediately went back to my tail and my usual steely gaze was cast downwards to the floor, eyebrows drawn together in concentration as I tried to think about how shiny the metal was; it was a lame distraction but anything was better than eye contact at this point. I thought about how I had acted the last time we had talked down here and guilt struck me like lightning. The apology never happened like I had planned. It had just been forgotten about like most other things.

'Just calm down...this is Garrus. You guys are best friends, there's nothing to be afraid of.' I chanted this over and over in my mind like a mantra. Finally feeling sure enough with my emotions and stable enough that I could look him in the eye without breaking down I looked back up to his blue-gray eyes. His gaze was unreadable as usual.

"Ok. So, you know about how I used to work for a company before going to the academy right?"

The nod I received was curt and ushered me to continue.

"And you know that they made me who, what, I am now... but you don't know how they did that. That's what my nightmare had been about... what they have been about. My time there as an operative and the things that **they** did to me...what they made me do for them. That's why I didn't want to say anything."

I realized that towards the end of my sentence my voice had become harsh so I tried to tone it back, no reason to get worked up talking about it. Garrus was quiet as I explained and he remained that way when I had stopped; maybe he was contemplating whether or not he should send me away. It did sound like I was just telling my little sob story, but in all reality, it was anything but. This wasn't something that I made public about my life just for attention and pity. In fact, it was something that I kept hidden from as many people, and organizations, as possible because it showed my lowest point in life. A time when I had been ashamed to even look in the mirror.

The silence was almost agonizing as it stretched on, nothing being said between us as the turian beside me seemed to contemplate what he wanted to say. It was probably his quiet way of brushing this off and asking me to leave, and honestly, I was almost eager to comply. But it wasn't until I began to move that he spoke up and stopped me, his voice sounding rougher than usual. Almost pain filled.

"What did they do to you FayLynn."

So close. The gasp was on the tip of my tongue, almost escaping before I caught it, but I did. The only indication that his question had caught me off guard was that my body went rigid as I turned back to face him. One that he probably didn't miss what with his keen eyesight. The blue of his eyes had darkened considerably and were now solely focused on me, almost as if he were trying to will the answers out of me. He really wanted to know that bad.

My resolve to hide it crumbled to dust in that very moment and I let the yearn to tell someone, to confide in another being, enter my heart and guide my mind. My voice was strong now as I spoke to him, something that I don't think either of us really expected.

"Garrus...they did things that no being, human or otherwise, would ever think to do to something living. It was like they just stripped me of what made me a person layer by layer, day by day, until there was just a skeleton for them to build on. So they could shape me and make me into what they wanted. To them I wasn't a 14-year-old girl that they had ruined and taken the spirit from after three years of conditioning; I was merely a vessel that was there to host any and every experiment they could think of that wouldn't kill me...I wish they would have. I wanted them to."

That one made my voice crack. Not just because of the memory of being stuck in a cell, alone and cold, suddenly popped into my mind. It was the anger and repressed rage that had begun to bubble up at the mention of their treatment to my younger self. How they had pushed a **child** yearn for death.

"It's ok, take your time."

"No, it's not okay. It's not okay and I'm not fine, but I have to be. They took away my only chance of normal and left me like this...they left me broken. I've tried fixing myself but I just...I'm so tired. Garrus, I'm so tired of acting like there's nothing wrong with me and that it's just going to go away." Tears began to fall down my face, staining my skin and falling on to my currently clenched fists. I didn't care if I was crying in front of anybody anymore, it didn't matter.

"FayLynn, I am telling you that there is nothing wrong with you. Yes, you have some extra parts, and you went through hell as a child. But don't think for a second that it makes you any less of a person than anybody on board this ship, hell, than anybody on the damn Citadel! And if you really are broken, well. I'll always be here to pick up the pieces."

"Garrus." My heart fluttered and I couldn't help but sniffle as I looked at the turian whom had been my friend when no one else would. I was lucky to have him here with me, and it was only right that I finish my story now.

I took another moment to collect myself once more, breathing deeply and leaning against Garrus's shoulder out of instinct; it was something I had always used to do when I had a long day. There was just something about the feeling of having someone to lean on, a thing that I had never used to have, that gave me the extra strength to move on. No matter how angry he made me sometimes I knew that Garrus would be there no matter what. Realizing this as I spoke, my voice was laced with a new found yet quiet confidence. Unfortunately, I was still sniffling every few seconds.

"When they took me away from my cell that night...I could tell something was different. I had been lead to the usual room and put on the same old table, but this time they shackled me down and layered straps over my body; it made moving impossible. Then they put this...collar type thing around my neck really tightly. I remember the feeling of the cool metal against my skin and how it made me shiver. There were spiked studs on the inside so that I didn't try to pull away. That's what these scars are from."

I slowly pulled down the collar of my uniform whilst looking away, being careful not to reveal anymore because of other blemishes I didn't wish to show quite yet. His eyes pinpointed on the light circle scars that littered the skin around my neck. Garrus seemed floored at this revelation and struggled to find the right words at first.

"These marks... how have I not seen them before?"

"Because I cover them up with makeup, they're not my proudest part."

I could tell that there was an oncoming question, there always was, but I stopped it before he could even ask. Patience was a virtue.

"Needle after needle was pushed into my body. They started at my lower calf and just worked their way up, not bothering to even prepare me for any of them. The head scientist was there to oversee the operation. I used to refer to him as Dr. Doom."

A type of sardonic smile graced my features as the doctor's image popped into my mind. He had striking green eyes quite like my own and slightly graying chocolate brown hair, scruff on his chin and neck while a scar ran across his jugular. Must have been from a previous incident. But my eyes looked up to the turian that was currently shaking from a chuckle, the noise drawing me away from the memory of my captor. The one memory that never hurt me to think about oddly enough. I could always think about it and it never once got blocked, it just kind of seeped through the cracks. Like there was something different about it.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, it's kind of inappropriate of me to laugh but, Dr. Doom?"

I returned a smile, though not a true one, to convey that it was alright to laugh. Finding the humor in things like this now is how I got past the memories.

"Yeah. He would always be talking about how our species was doomed to be extinct if we kept going on like we were, so negative. His voice was always dark. You wouldn't have guessed by the way he smiled so brightly or laughed, but there was just something about him that made my blood run cold. I remember him trying to console me as I began to cry; the needles were being injected into my sides and abdomen at that point. 'You're going to be something magnificent, extraordinary... beautiful.' It was like he really thought that those words would make every stick not burn like fire. I don't know why but... he would always give me extra praise when I performed a task correctly. He would even slip me extra food and water when possible. But after what he helped those people do to me I-..."

The words seemed to escape me in that moment as I thought about it. I had really begun to trust him there, my young and naive 9 year old mind being easily fooled when I had first been taken by the seemingly kind gestures and needing something to cling to. Yearning for some kind of human contact that he had filled at the time.

"I trusted him. But like I said, that bridge was burned down after the procedure. After all the injections were finished and I had fought against the restraints, my wrists were rubbed raw and the spikes had dug into my neck. Unfortunately, they deemed this behavior inappropriate and decided to punish me by sending waves of electricity coursing through my body via the collar. I had thought that it was the worst pain I had endured so far. Looking back at it now though, my nightmare made me realize how wrong I was about that. With my body no longer being capable of struggling I just lay there, waiting to be brought back to my cell, but instead the charge of a laser beam of some sort filled the room... and what happened next is an indescribable mix of pain and blinding white lights. My screams were the only thing that I remember hearing after that." Silence followed that last part for nearly two minutes. At this point I wasn't sure if he was afraid of speaking or simply to shocked to. When Garrus finally spoke up his voice was quiet once more; restrained.

"And when you woke up you were... like this?"

"Yeah. I was like **this**. But there's nothing I really remember with accuracy. All this information has come from my dreams, and even then the memories are hard to make out."

I hadn't mean for the words to come out sounding so distasteful but it just couldn't be helped, remembering when I woke up afterwards always brought a sour taste to my mouth. Just the feeling of being violated down to my very core was a feeling that I never knew I would experience and it was one that I resented to have ever known. But I knew that Garrus hadn't meant to say it like that.

Neither one of us said anything to the other as we just sat in a semi-comfortable silence once again. Though I wasn't sure if it was because he didn't know how to respond to what I had said, or if he was afraid to say the wrong thing and set me off; which was unlikely at this point. My chest that had once been weighted with the thought of talking about this was now free of any burden and allowed me to breathe easily. It had been awhile since I could do that. Maybe opening up wasn't the worst thing I could do...but then again it probably wouldn't go as smoothly as this had every time.

"...do you think you'll ever find them? The people who did this to you."

His voice was slightly lower than usual though I wasn't sure as to why, and he had shifted to where we were now sitting completely on his makeshift bed instead of teetering on the edge.

"I don't know. I'm not even sure if I want to find them Garrus."

And it was true. My mind was split into two different sides, one being the side that wanted to get my revenge and make those bastards pay, and the other side that was afraid to know just who they were. The illusion of secrecy kept me safe from them.

I moved closer to my turian friend and sighed before letting my eyes close. Sometimes it was just nice to be close to someone you cared for with no interruptions, no stress or work to worry about. Just relaxing in one anothers company. I guess Garrus had the same idea and before I knew it we were both laying down and pressed against each other, warmth radiating between us both. He pulled out a blanket and covered me up while I moved my head to lay against his neck, feeling like it was the safest place in the world; at least I didn't have to ask to sleep down here with him now. I let my eyes flutter closed and breathed deeply as I got comfortable, trying not to let the severity of the memories spoil my sleep.

"I won't let them hurt you again." He sounded so sure when he said that statement and remained calm, almost as if he hadn't been worked up no more than a few minutes ago. Probably putting on a strong facade so that I wouldn't worry.

"I know..."

Letting his promise wrap itself around me securely I tried to focus on sleep, but one question was still plaguing my thoughts. I wanted to believe him, so much that it made my heart constrict painfully. But how could he protect me from something that I couldn't even protect myself from?


	8. Chapter 8

_**Last one I updated for now. Fixed a few problems with the POV, and some grammer problems. Please enjoy the story!**_

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Garrus's POV

It had never mattered how late or early that I went to bed, I always ended up waking at about six in the morning; it made sleeping in impossible. But today I was actually glad that my body had forced my eyes to open, for the sight in front of me brought a smile to my face and warmed my heart. Sure, there had been many nights at the academy in which FayLynn and I would visit one anothers apartment for a movie or game night, and sometimes we would fall asleep there, but I would always be on the couch or carry her to bed. Now as I watched her completely lax face, lips slighted parted to breathe, I realized that there was no other sight that I would rather see.

Most human females had the desire to coat their skin with copious amounts of this stuff called 'makeup' to try and hide their flaws and imperfections-which seemed a bit self-conceded if you ask me- but Fay wasn't like that. No, her skin was not a pure expanse of ivory, but that did nothing to hinder her beauty. At least not to me. At the most she wore some colors on her eyes that really made them stand out, the pale green of her inner iris's so sharp and stunning. Her ears began to twitch every which way as my breath lightly ghosted over them and my mandibles flared out in amusement; even if her memories of getting the unnatural appendages were not pleasant I had to admit that I was quite fond of them.

"I wonder..."

With precarious ease and a feather light touch I allowed my hand to brush against one ear. No response. Maybe if I...yes! I grasped the velvety ear carefully and began to rub/scratch it as one would a normal cat, revealing in the way her mouth curved into a contented smile. Even in her sleep she couldn't resist. Her body instinctively curled even closer to my own in an attempt to lean into my touch,

her arms looping around my waist and neck securely. Surely she had to be close to waking up? But her even breathing that was now blowing over my neck confirmed that FayLynn was indeed still in a deep sleep, obviously enjoying my ministrations.

"Mmm."

I hope that she slept peacefully. Taking sleeping aids wasn't good for the body in large doses, so if it took sleeping down in engineering with him for her to be well rested he wouldn't hesitate to let her. But she probably wouldn't want to rouse anyone's attention and create rumors of fraternization, surely it could only lead to trouble. Especially for the Commander. Spirits only knows what she would have to deal with. But enough of that thinking for now, back to observing the treasure that was currently encased in my arms.

If there was one thing that absolutely fascinated me about humans it was their hair; the foreign follicles were always so intriguing to me since turians possessed none. My species was all hard angels and plates. Sure, we had some softer regions such as the back of our necks, parts of our thighs and sides, but these were all parts that were practically never exposed. And now, as Fay's hand lay gently across the sensitive part of my neck, fingers delicately stroking the skin subconsciously, I couldn't help but let a low rumble make its way into my chest. Some could say that it was similar to a purr only it wasn't as smooth. I was well skilled at not letting it break through my defenses too easily, but in this case it just couldn't be helped.

I let a feeling of pure content flow through my body as my eyes closed once more so that I could enjoy the simplicity of this moment, not wanting to ever end...and that was when I heard it. Along with my own low rumble there was another, smoother noise. One that was all too familiar to my ears. Fay had begun to purr. My own comforting instinct must have in turn triggered her body to respond, and it was actually quite pleasant. Unfortunately, just as I was about to fall back into a peaceful sleep I picked up the rhythmic sound of someone walking our way. Though I couldn't see whom it was until they stepped around the side of the Mako. It wasn't until after they came into my full sight that I wished they hadn't walked over. Ashley Williams. Great. Having her ruin my morning with her slightly passive racism was just what I needed today.

The first thing to register was her hearing. It was muffled at first, leaving Fay to catch only bits and pieces of what was currently being said. Most of it was garble with only a few words such as 'wrong' and 'Vakarian', but after another moment and giving herself a bit more time to awaken even more everything came in much clearer.

"No, I'm not lying Williams, and I suggest you keep your voice down. She hasn't been sleeping well so she needs this."

"Oh, trust me Vakarian, the way I saw her popping those sleeping aids; I'm sure she's gotten plenty of sleep."

Ashley? Confusion flitted through her mind for only a brief moment before FayLynn remembered last night. She had ended up sleeping in engineering with Garrus after talking about her nightmares with him and now, as she became even more aware, she realized that her arms were around him and her face was buried in his neck; though it wasn't like any of it was unpleasant she was sure that was what Ashley was making a fuss over. A threatening growl shook her body slightly as Garrus jumped to her defense, obviously not liking the way that the other woman was speaking of his friend. The turians voice was harsh and slightly strained as he tried to keep quiet.

"You have no idea what she's been through! If you even had to experience half of what she has in her life you probably couldn't even handle it."

"I handled my whole team being wiped out because of me-"

"And so did half of the alliance fleets Captains, Commanders, you name it! But instead of crying and weeping about it they turn that grief into the strength that fuels them. It makes them stronger. Now please leave before you wake FayLynn up."

The edge in his voice softened towards the end as he spoke of the woman in his arms, stroking some of the hair away from her face and over her shoulder. Of course this gesture was not missed by Ashley but she decided not to make a comment, merely settling for storming off to her locker and going through her weapons; checking the clips and making sure that they were clean. If that turian and the agent wanted to get in to trouble then whatever, it wasn't like she had to help them.

Garrus let out a barely audible breath of relief when the human had walked off. While they had been talking he had noticed Fay shift in his arms but decided to ignore it, hoping that she would stay in her land of slumber and peace. Little did he know that she was now very much awake and had just decided to bask in the moment for a second longer before she wanted to make her presence known.

"What time is it?" A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she felt the turian holding her tense momentarily at hearing her voice. He was probably cursing Ashley in his mind and blaming the Gunnery Chief for her waking up

"Almost 7:00. Go back to sleep."

"No I can't now, but it's ok. I've been trying to wake up earlier anyways so might as well start now. I'll probably go grab some breakfast soon."

As she continued to go on about getting up and eating FayLynn had managed to remove her arms, much to Garrus's discontent, and disentangle herself from his body before sitting up on the edge of the bed. Her arms stretched out and up while a sigh escaped her mouth at the pleasant feeling. Nothing was better than stretching after a good nights rest. What she didn't notice however, was the way her friend was gazing softly at her, still having not moved from his own spot on the hammock/bed. His mind wandering off into a faraway place as he thought about what it would be like to wake to this sight not just once, but every morning.

"Garrus."

"Hmmm? What?"

"Did you hear me?" Slight irritation edged Fay's voice and she snapped her fingers a few times to catch his attention.

"Oh breakfast, yeah sure."

Thinking that he had been on the right track Garrus rolled off his side, landing on his feet, and proceeded to throw on his armor; not bothering to turn and look at her quite yet. Didn't want to stare too much now. But when he had finished putting on the last piece and she still hadn't answered, the turian took that as his queue to glance over his shoulder...he had really wished he hadn't. Dark green eyes were narrowed into slits and practically suffocating him with fear, maybe he should have been listening a bit better.

"That's not what I was asking, stop being so empty minded sometimes. It's like there's plates inside your brain too."

For a moment, he was worried that she was truly angry with him for not paying attention. But within no more than thirty seconds of making him think that he was in deep shit she couldn't help but smile, a mischievous glint shining in her now wide and bright eyes signifying that she had only been poking fun at him. Of course, she would do that. Would she be his FayLynn is she didn't?

"I wanted to know if you would like to get Sterling with me after we pick up Dr. T'Soni. I feel bad for leaving him with the sitter for so long."

"Sure of course...but you did say something about breakfast right?"

The adorable look of hope in his eyes made her chuckle and stand up quickly, hands going to her hips as she tried to figure out how he was that unobservant at times.

"Yeah. C'mon you poor starving turian." She flicked her tail at him as she walked by, not bothering to see if he was following for she knew that he would without question. If there was one thing that she knew about Garrus, it was that he could be too predictable at times. Especially when it came to food.

Just as the two made it to the elevator its shutters opened to reveal Tali and Engineer Adams, both obviously so deep into their conversation that they didn't even notice their other crew members as they walked by. The turian and his human counterpart watched them with humor in their eyes before hitting the button for the mess hall, Fay shouldering her friend lightly just as the door closed once more; leaving the room quiet once more aside from the clicking sound of the Gunnery Chief reassembling her rifle. Her expression had been a look of strained neutrality, only being held up by the sheer willpower of not wanting to disrespect Shepard by starting a fight on her vessel. Although sometimes the offer was all too tempting.

"Turian thinks he's all that...getting cozy with that freak friend of his." Her grumbling was quiet enough that only she could hear it, that and she was also the only one in the room at the moment.

It wasn't that Ashley hated turians it was just that she had come from a prejudice type family, and even though she was now old enough to have a mind of her own it was just a simple matter of fact that old habits die hard. She had also never worked with any species other than her own so the feeling was quite foreign if not unpleasant. Always having to make sure her comments weren't seen as racist or that she didn't grab the dextro-amino food by accident. Just all those little things that have never been a problem before seemed to irk her on a new level entirely; good thing she had done well at keeping rude comments to herself...most of the time.

The lighting had been turned down in the small workroom where a lone figure sat, knees pulled up to her chest and a small metal pin grasped tightly in between her fingers. It was almost as if she were afraid to drop it.

"Who are you..."

Fay spoke the question out loud as if she were expecting an answer back, which of course none came. But there was just something about this symbol that was so familiar that it was nagging in the back of her mind irritatingly. All day she had been talking and socializing with other members of the crew, trying to fit in and make everyone a little more comfortable around one another. It had been going very well if she had to say so herself and would have continued if not for her hand reaching into her pocket; it had been then that her fingertips brushed against the metal, implanting the seed of raging curiosity in her mind and further distracting her from anyone and everyone around her.

She knew that everyone had stared like she had grown a second head as she had made an excuse and quickly left but it didn't matter; and now here she sat. Alone in a dark room with a now cleaned off pin that she still couldn't remember the place she had seen the insignia from. It seemed as if every time she thought about it there was just one shred, one little glimmer of hope that more answers would come. None ever did. She was just left hanging in the balance and at the mercy of whatever god or gods existed, waiting for a semblance of purpose to strike her like lightning and ignite a flame of recollection.

All this time FayLynn had thought that it was her past that drove her forwards to excel and achieve more out of the tragedy that had been her life, to show those smug bastards at the academy that there was more to her than they would ever know. Yet that was just it...she didn't even know. Where she came from, who her parents were; so much had been wiped from her memory so that she wouldn't ever be in danger of being emotionally compromised.

"It's just not fair...everyone else gets to remember their family, remember someone who loved them. I have nobody."

Fay knew that there was no one in the room with her, but speaking out loud made her feel like there was. Or maybe even if she couldn't remember them her parents were still watching over her from wherever they were, praying in hopes that one day they would be able to see their daughter once more. The thought almost made her smile. Their faces would be worn and weathered from the worry, hands probably calloused from the years of work they had done, eyes crinkled in happiness as they saw the child that they had thought lost forever. Would she have her mothers eyes and her fathers face? Did she have any siblings that looked for her as well?

So many questions that she yearned to know the answers to. And to think that they would never be answered only made the ache that now resided in her heart hurt that much more. Slender fingers closed around the metal symbol as their owner sighed heavily, closing her eyes momentarily before stuffing the pin back in to her pocket. Continually staring at it wasn't going to get her answers and faster so what was the point. Fay's legs groaned in protest as she hauled herself up from the uncomfortable position, having been stuck in one place for too long. She stretched them out for a moment before walking out of the small work space and heading towards the mess for a bite to eat.

"Afternoon Agent Daye. Headed to the mess?"

Kaidan gave a small smile and nodded to the woman as he walked out of another office, his presence very passive and quite. It usually was. FayLynn tried to hide her current feeling of wondering where she fit in amongst the universe. Didn't need the lieutenant questioning her as usual. It wasn't even that she minded so much as that was all that ever happened between them, a game of twenty questions. 'Why did you join C-sec?' 'How do you wear armor?' 'Do you remember your home before?' On and on and on he would go until she would end their interaction and head to a different room, but she would play nice. For now. Swallowing a grimace the agent nodded and continued to walk as Kaidan accompanied her.

"So we should be approaching the planet Therum within the next few hours and I heard that Shepard wanted a team more adept with biotics to tag along, what with Liara T'Soni being Beneziah's daughter and all."

"Okay. Let me know if she needs me, or I guess Shepard herself will just let me know." She talked nonchalantly as they both finally entered the mess. Fay immediately moved towards the food storage and bent down as she examined what was in the fridge, trying to block out Kaidan Alenko's presence. She really wasn't in the mood for useless rambling. But he didn't leave even as she popped back up with a bottle of apple juice before moving to the cabinet and pulling down a box of macaroni and cheese.

"Well see, the thing is I suggested we test your biotics before hand so that we could gauge your handle with them. It's not that I don't believe you it's just that not a whole lot of people have seen you use them, and you never really got proper training for them-"

"So you think I'm not as up to par as you or Wrex?"

"I mean no! Well-I just think that- maybe we should-"

"Kaidan calm down. I'm joking. It's fine if you want to see what I'm capable of, and we can test my powers in the training room in about forty minutes. After I eat." Her voice was matter of fact and patient seeing as it would do no good to be short tempered. He was only looking after the crew and obviously didn't want some kind of accident to occur.

The lieutenant nodded and offered the agent in question a small nod and a smile before exiting the mess and heading up towards the observation deck. Probably going to sit with Joker and chat with the pilot. At least it would give her some peace and quiet while she ate. Speaking of which she had better hurry and finish up preparing her food so that she wasn't late. As the water in the pot before her boiled she slowly poured in the macaroni noodles and watched them with mild interest as they swirled around, bumping off of the side and appearing as if the pasta was racing one another. Fay's mind was bouncing around what Kaidan had said to her about hardly anybody seeing her use her biotics. Of course they hadn't, she didn't like to advertise that she had them because of where she had gotten them from. To her the people that experimented on her didn't give her a gift, they took away any chance of a normal life. They took away her family. And they implanted her with a biotic amp to enhance the powers that she never wanted. So why should she broadcast any of this to the people around her?

"This is why you don't let them keep a file on you Daye, but oh no. You just had to think that maybe they would just ignore it..." The former C-sec agent mumbled to herself in irritation while straining her noodles and then mixing them back into the pot with the powdered cheese, milk and butter. After about two minutes of stirring the mixture rapidly to try and alleviate the unpleasant pressure that she could feel building up in her temples, FayLynn scooped a few large spoonfuls into a bowl and sat down to eat.

She chewed slowly, thoughtfully, and sometimes stopped eating completely for a few seconds at times before resuming her chewing once more. This time it wasn't her own problems that had her thinking hard, it was this whole mission to go after Saren. Sure, Shepard could do it if nobody else could, but what if they got in to a position that not even the Council could get them out of? Hell, even the gutsiest of soldiers wouldn't traverse the terminus systems chasing the geth after what happened on Eden Prime...but maybe it was time somebody did. And that somebody was the Commander.

"Do humans really find pasta with artificial cheese powder an acceptable meal? Because I feel like it does nothing for your body nutrient wise."

"Wah!" Not expecting Garrus to speak up from right next to her Fay jumped and let out a yell of surprise, the macaroni that had been on her fork now on her face. Emerald green eyes darkened and then narrowed in frustration as they honed in on a very sheepish looking turian.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you like that."

"Well maybe next time you could give me some kind of heads up before scaring the life out of me. Did you need something?"

"Yeah actually. Do you have some metal shine that I can use to buff out the scratches on my sniper rifle? I misplaced mine."

"Oh yeah, sure. Let me get it for you." Fay nodded and gathered her now empty bowl, taking to the sink and washing it before setting it to dry with the pot she had used earlier before moving towards her assigned sleeping pod. If she wasn't going to use it for sleeping, the least she could do was store some personal items in it.

After lifting the lid, being careful not to bump her head, she opened the bag that she kept her weapon cleaning supplies in and began to rifle around for the cleaner, all the while not paying attention to the book she had knocked out. It fell to the metal floor with a dull thud and fell open, pages rustling quietly and falling against one another as a photograph slipped out from between them. With the gun cleaner in hand FayLynn bent down to pick up the book, not noticing the photo at first, and placed it back in her sleeper pod before straightening back up. As she went to hand Garrus the container she now noticed that he held something in his hand, his mandibles flared out in a nostalgic smile.

"I didn't know that you kept this photo with you." Fay shrugged and shuffled her feet a bit, looking anywhere else in the room except at the piece of film in the turians hand. It was a bittersweet memory that was imprinted on it and she hardly ever looked at it. Just kept it for luck.

"Yeah I uh...couldn't just get rid of it. It's not like I want to forget about her." Her voice dropped lower towards the end of the sentence and she reached out to take the photograph back, being as gentle as possible whilst putting it back. Garrus noticed that she didn't even glance at it as she did so and decided that it was best to drop the subject that FayLynn obviously didn't want to push; his sharp steel blue eyes watching her cautiously. Sometimes he could never tell whether she was going to blow up or just get quiet, but surprisingly she seemed to just rebound off of the awkward few seconds of silence and smiled at him like it had never happened.

"Well, I need to go meet up with Kaidan in the training room before we reach Therum. Heard that Shepard needs a few biotics so I need to see if I'm up to par, later."

"Yeah I'll see you." The turian nodded back at his human friend and watched as she walked off towards the training room, smirking and throwing another smile over her shoulder as she went. Alenko was in for one hell of a training session.

"Shit!" Kaidan barely threw up a shield in time to block FayLynn's warp as she threw power after power at him, careful not to injure him but precise enough to make him jump. The lieutenant had to admit that while he was impressed with her skills, he hadn't seen enough to make him think that was any more powerful than he had been when he first started his biotic training.

"Careful Alenko, I might catch ya!"

"Is that so? Try this on for size!" Getting tired of hearing her goad him Kaidan finally caught her just as she was about to throw another warp his way, using most of his focus to set her in a strong stasis field. His ego swelled slightly as he heard her curse before stilling completely, the blue glow of biotics around her indicating that she was now trapped.

"What was that now Daye? I thought you were getting a little cocky there! Maybe next time you should cut the chatter and focus on the fight huh?" A few drops of sweat dripped off of his brow as he spoke, their training session having taken a toll on his energy. But before the soldier could claim victory over the former C-sec agent he noticed that her body had begun to glow brighter with power, and it wasn't just from his own biotics. They had been draining as he stood there now. No. It was her own power.

The bright blue color began to darken and take on a purplish hue, pulses of biotic energy emanating from her body like it was some kind of beacon. Kaidan had never seen anything like it before, not even from an asari. Within second FayLynn's whole form had become encased in her own energy and she began to break through the stasis she was currently being held in; a smile formed on her face as she saw the lieutenant's expression of awe.

To be honest she hadn't even known that she could do what she was currently doing, but he didn't need to know that. More and more energy built up, and with it items had begun to float and move towards the source as if she was some kind of singularity field; drawing any and everything towards her, Within seconds and before the biotic man even had a chance to blink she had completely broken out of the stasis and charged directly at him. Unfortunately he had rolled out of the way a split second before she could crash in to him so Fay ended up charging directly in to the wall. The metal groaned in protest and gave in a fair amount before her charge lost power and she dropped to the floor, exhausted, smoke rolling into the air from her body.

"What...the hell...was that?!" Letting his brown eyes survey the partially wrecked room around him from the severe power surge that his comrade had just released, Kaidan could only utter a few words of question through his shock. Never in his life would he have thought a human capable of such biotic power! It was simply unheard of!

Still rubbing the sort spot on the side of her head, FayLynn grunted in discomfort and looked over her shoulder with glinting emerald orbs. Her pupils narrowing slightly from the light that hit them.

"Well, if I'm to judge it was quite a large surge of biotics if I do say so myself. But if you think it's something else please let me know." Sarcasm. Cute. Now was not the time to try and blow this off though. Rolling his eyes as he did so the greatly worn out lieutenant pushed himself up off of the floor and walked, albeit a bit stiffly, over to where Fay still sat. As he offered his hand to her he replied with just as much sarcasm.

"Really? I thought it was a Krogan that had run through here! But in all seriousness, I really want to know what just happened. You managed to break out of my stasis, draw in an amazing amount of energy and pull off a charge all in the same breath. FayLynn, you drew in and released more biotic power than even an asari Matriarch and I don't even know how. What kind of implant do you have?"

"Ummmm...I don't even know honestly. Last I remembered the medics at the C-sec academy told me that it must have been a new model back then because they couldn't identify it. Should I be concerned?" Worry now clouded and darkened Fay's eyes as she thought over all of the new problems she would face now that she had tapped into unknown biotic powers that she didn't really want. Unfortunately life has a funny way of not asking permission when it comes to matter such as these.

Seeing her apprehension at being made aware of the problems that could come with this realization Kaidan tried his best to calm her, pulling her away from the now ruined training room and towards the mess hall for a few energy bars and something to drink. It was important that they keep hydrated and take in some protein after using so much energy. As he grabbed their snacks and got them both a glass of water he sighed in thought.

"Well whatever you have it's letting you process raw biotic energy in such a way that regular implants don't let us do. Probably because of the slightly unstable outcome that we just witnessed."

"True, but I can probably harness all my power and really get some use out of it. Though the times when I've used my biotics before they had never acted up like that..." FayLynn took a bite of her energy bar and chewed with vigor, not realizing how hungry she was until the food had touched her lips. Kaidan on the other hand had already demolished two and was now finishing off his water in a few gulps, some of the stray droplets running down his chin and dripping on to the floor. After casually wiping his face the lieutenant crossed his arms.

"Whatever the reason I think it's best not to output that much energy for now, at least not until we can figure out why this is happening." Now speaking mostly to himself, the lieutenant started to rub his thumb against his lower lip in thought whilst walking away; forgetting about the woman who watched him leave in slight confusion. Oh well.

Swallowing the last bite of her snack Fay tossed the wrapper in to the compactor, chugged the last of her water and headed up to the cockpit. When in doubt, annoy the hell out of Joker.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Wooo Chatper 9, yis! This one is kind of fun and then kind of serious with a bit of fluff at the end. Please enjoy and let me know what everyone thinks. I do not own anything Mass Effect.**_

* * *

"Ahhhh! Shepard, can we not drive so close the flowing river of lava?!"

"What, you don't trust the driving skills of your Commander?!"

"No!" FayLynn shouted the word while Wrex settled on glaring at the wall silently, trying not to grunt every time the Mako jolted. Shepard had decided to bring the C-sec Agent and Krogan because this way she would have the biotics she wanted and the muscle she needed. Now, however, Fay had decided that maybe she should rethink the option of coming along next time if the Commander was going to be driving.

"We're coming up to a blockade! I'm going to pull around the side and we can use the Mako for cover while we take out the geth, then we should be able to lower the gate and have a straight shot to where Liara is at." The lack of humor in Shepard's now very serious voice told her teammates that it was time for action. They both pulled out their weapon of choice, checking the clips and doing a once over before easily slipping into the mindset of a soldier.

There was no good or bad way to describe what it felt like to fall into battle mode; maybe saying it was like a switch flipping on and off was a good one. But then again that made it sound as if the feeling was easy to turn off. As the Mako screeched to a stop and the side door opened Commander Shepard and her team dove out with their guns firing, blood rushing and hearts pumping.

"Wrex start taking out that geth prime! FayLynn throw out a singularity to keep the overflows distracted!"

"On it Shepard!"

"Moving in now!" Wrex's voice was powerful as it sounded out over the comm link and he pulled out his shotgun, preparing special inferno bullets so that he could get the attention of the large geth prime. The Krogan grinned a bit masochistically as he loaded the weapon and fired, hitting the machine directly in the chest and searing the red colored plating there. There was something about battle that stirred all Krogan's blood, made them feel invincible, and Wrex was no exception. While her comrade was handling the big problem off to her right, FayLynn had charged up a singularity and thrown it directly behind a large group of geth that had collected near the prime.

"Take this you bastards!" As the singularity flew from her palm and hit right where she wanted geth began to float and fly backwards towards the source. Their distressed blips made Fay smirk and she looked down the attached scope of her carnifex pistol, holding her breath as she took them out one by one; Meanwhile, the Commander was now helping Wrex finish off the geth prime. Her assault rifle fired off in short bursts, pushing the machine away from her squad member while the Krogan's shotgun blew hole after hole in its body.

"Geth scum! You will cower before the wrath of a Krogan!" Wrex roared at the now unstable and wobbling geth and before it could even attempt to self-repair he charged at it, his body pulsing with a fortification shield and pure rage that only a Krogan such as his self could possess. As soon as his shoulder made contact with the armor of the hostile machine its body began to crumple in on itself, the metal groaning and the gears whirring as it was destroyed and pummeled in to a pile of scrap. Wrex proceeded to make a noise of satisfaction and then kicked the scrap aside, turning to look at Fay and Shepard who were making their way towards the gate control room. Obviously, humans weren't that in to gloating over their kills.

Still holding their weapons at the ready, the Normandy's team of three moved through the small metal control room quickly and quietly, taking out the one geth that had been turned away from them. Shepard had fried the synthetics systems with an overload and FayLynn moved in to work the gate controls. Within minutes they had lowered the last obstacle that stood between them and Dr. T'Soni and sped off once more inside of the Mako. It wasn't until they came across yet another problem no more than five minutes after their last one and the Commander cursed under her breath in irritation.

"Shit! Another roadblock, except this time we won't be able to get the Mako around this one. C'mon team lets pile out and get this done." FayLynn groaned internally at the thought of fighting even more geth on foot. The pesky synthetics were sturdy, she would give them that, but it was more so the fact that it was all they seemed to fight nowadays. The small side missions Shepard had been picking up from Hackett and other Alliance officials mostly consisted of dispersing small groups of geth that had been spotted or shutting off false distress signals. The cat eared woman never thought that she would be wishing for some Batarian slavers right about now. Alas, that was now going to be the case she realized as bullets whizzed by her head as she ducked behind a large boulder for cover.

"Need some cover fire!"

"On it Shepard!" Fay reloaded her carnifex pistol after hearing her Commander call for some back up. Popping out from her cover quickly she fired bullet after bullet at the geth closet to Shepard before using a biotic throw to smash the last one into the wall of rock behind it. The resulting noise of crunching metal and distressed beeping before the synthetic went offline for good brought a grin to her face. Some of the fluid from its body had splattered out and stained her armor white in some places and painted the ground. As the group continued to move forward and closer to their goal Wrex spoke up from the back, a hint of amusement as well as respect evident in his voice.

"Nice biotics there Daye. Remind me to never catch you in a bad mood."

"Yeah yeah. I have to release all that pent-up irritation from having to deal with you, don't I?"

"Ha! Right back at you!" As he said this Wrex sent a large carnage blast directly at a geth pyro's tank, causing it to explode and destroy the two other troopers that were right behind it.

For what felt like hours Shepard and her team fought ferociously as they worked their way up the rest of the hill and finally made it to the entrance of the dig site. Unfortunately, before they could storm up the ramp and inside the geth ship that had been continuously dropping off reinforcements decided to make one last pass by; but this time it wasn't just a few troopers that were thrown their way. As FayLynn, Wrex and the Commander took cover behind several large shipping containers they had to brace themselves as the ground beneath them shook, the cause being a huge colossus that was now standing to its full height and looking around for enemies.

"Damn. They just had to make this difficult on the last stretch, didn't they?" The disdain and frustration in Shepard's voice was all too noticeable as she peered around the corner, assessing the situation. While she was doing this a few geth hoppers also became noticeable. But even with all the bullets that were now flying their way the ever so determined N7 soldier was already calculating an offensive plan. Getting back behind her cover the Commander checked the clip on her assault rifle to make sure it was full before turning to look at each of her teammates.

"We need to take out everything else before trying to fire at that colossus. FayLynn can you hold it in a stasis until Wrex and I take out the hoppers and the troopers?"

"I.." Flashbacks of what had happened in the training room with Kaidan ran through her mind and made her blink a few times to clear them out. No, she could handle this and prove that not only was she a powerful biotic, but a useful one as well. With a firm and unwavering voice Fay looked at Shepard through her helmets visor and nodded, green eyes meeting her leaders own blue ones. Passing along a promise and showing her determination.

"I won't let you down Shepard."

What happened next was like a slowed down action scene of a movie. Simultaneously all three soldiers moved out from their cover; Wrex and Shepard with guns blazing and with FayLynn glowing a deep indigo. The biotic honed in on the colossus and pushed all the power she could in to creating a stasis field around the synthetic to hold it in place. As soon as it was captured she could feel the enormous push of resistance from the machine and her biotics flared in response, but she continued to hold it none the less. Meanwhile her two other teammates continued to take out the smaller geth one by one, as quickly as possible. This turned out to be a lengthy ordeal when it came to the hoppers simply because they never stopped moving, so getting a direct hit on them was incredibly difficult.

Minutes continued to tick by, and with each one FayLynn's energy began to wane slowly but surely. She felt the few trickles of sweat make their way down her face and her arms shake as she continued to hold the stasis, her breathing now labored. Trying not to sound too distressed while trying to push them along she questioned the status of the rest of her team.

"You guys almost done? I won't be able to hold this thing forever."

"We're down to the last hopper. Just another minute!" Stress laced the Commanders voice as she detected the exhaustion creeping into her squad member's words. If they didn't hurry, then FayLynn would barely be alert enough to finish the mission let alone hold the colossus. But suddenly she remembered something. Before leaving the ship, Ashley had mentioned how she had finished repairing one of the heavy weapons that had been damaged on an earlier mission; telling Shepard to bring it along just in case. It was a good thing she had.

"Wrex, finish this geth! I'm taking out that colossus!" Pulling out the missile launcher that she was ever so grateful for, the galaxies first human specter rushed towards the towering machine. As she passed by the woman currently holding the stasis field Shepard yelled at her to drop it and hopped that she heard. No need in wasting more energy when the robotic was going to be a pile of scrap in less than ten seconds.

Sure, enough within seconds the blue haze that had been encasing the colossus dispersed and disappeared leaving a wide-open shot that the Commander did not hesitate to take. Pulling the trigger all three soldiers watched as the missile hit the synthetic square in the chest, creating an explosion of red, yellow and white light that had them shielding their faces. Pieces of molten hot metal, wires and other debris flew outwards from the source for a few seconds before all was quiet once more; only a severely charred spot on the ground remained where the colossus had once been. Wrex pounded his fists together and yelled triumphantly as he put his weapon away and moved towards where FayLynn and the Commander now stood, a prominent grin on his leather like face.

"Agh ha! That was good Shepard! Now I'm beginning to see why humans have survived so long, they can grow a pair when needed!"

"Nothing is going to stop me from getting Dr. T'Soni out of here alive. Are you okay Agent Daye?" The worry of a Commander towards her soldiers was apparent in her voice as she addressed the worn out looking biotic.

"I'm fine Commander. Let's grab T'Soni and get the hell out of here, it's hotter than the goddamn sun." Truth be told she was much more worn down that she had indicated, but it wasn't something that Fay hadn't been through before. She was going to see this mission through with Shepard. A little exhaustion wasn't going to keep her down and out.

* * *

Finding Liara T'Soni once they had gotten inside the ruins was probably the easiest thing they had done all day. The hard part had been releasing her from the Prothean trap she had accidentally sprung on herself while trying to keep out the geth. Not only did the Normandy's squad have to fight off yet another wave of the pesky synthetics, but they had to decipher the code to a mining laser so that they could reach the elevator that brought them to where Liara was being held. As Shepard and her team finally made it to the cell with their charge Liara gasped in surprise; apparently, she hadn't expected them to get back here so quickly if at all. Though relief was evident in her voice.

"How...how did you get in here? I didn't think there was any way past the barrier!"

"That's not important right now. We need to get you out of here before more geth arrive and try to capture you." The Commander moved towards the control panel for the trap the Asari was in and began to look it over, stopping for a moment as Liara directed her on which button to push.

"Yes, you're right. I have seen enough of them here to last a lifetime. That red button should shut down my containment field." Within seconds of the doctor finishing her sentence the blue field around her dropped and she landed on the floor a bit heavily, not completely ready for the impact, but on her feet. She turned to address Shepard with a nod of thanks and a sigh.

"Thank you, Commander. I appreciate the help."

"Not a problem. Now how do we get out of here? The uh, way we came in was a one-time use."

"There should be an elevator just outside this room. I'm assuming you used it on your way to get to me so we should be able to use it to get out."

"Right, let's move out." Not wasting time after letting the Asari go the specter followed behind her team as they filed back on to the elevator, waiting patiently as Fay hit the button for the top floor. As the large metal contraption groaned to life and began its slow upwards climb Liara began to wring her hands together nervously, approaching Shepard cautiously. Her crystal blue eyes showed slight apprehension and hesitation.

"I-I still cannot believe all this. Why would the geth come after me? Do you think Benezia is involved?" The unsure edge in her voice almost made FayLynn feel bad for her, but she answered seeing as how Shepard was trying to figure how to not hurt the doctor's feelings about her own mother.

"Saren's looking for the Conduit and you're a Prothean expert. Obviously, he wants you to join him like your mother did and help him find it."

Liara looked confused at this and stopped messing with her hands for a moment as she replied.

"The Conduit? But I don't know-" But before she could finish her thought the ruin around them shook, some debris falling from the ceiling. Everybody froze for a moment as they looked around for enemies and found none at the moment. Wrex put away his shotgun that he had rapidly pulled out, albeit a bit slowly just in case, and sniffed. His gruff voice echoing slightly in the vast space of the elevator.

"What the hell was that?"

"Something must have caused a seismic event. These ruins are very old and unstable so one wrong move could trigger its collapse."

"Dammit! It must have been the mining laser that we used to get to you." Shepard cursed at her own careless approach to getting Liara, but the Asari smiled gently and moved to the elevator's control panel. She pulled up what looked like a schematic and spoke hurriedly.

"It was bound to happen one way or the other, but we must hurry. The whole place is caving in!"

Shepard nodded and hailed the Normandy over her comm link, her voice turning into that of the stern and serious Commander role she was famous for.

"Joker! I need you to get the Normandy airborne and lock in on my signal double time!" The reply she got was just as serious and formal. Even a goof like the Normandy's pilot knew when and when not to play around.

"Aye, aye, Commander. Secure and aweigh. ETA eight minutes."

"If he's even ten seconds over that time I'll kill him myself when I see him. Even if it's in the afterlife." Fay snorted at hearing Wrex say that and she pulled out her carnifex to reload the clip and check the weapon over just as the elevator was coming to a stop. But just as she was about to begin walking without looking up a large armored arm stopped her, that along with the familiar sounds of the geth. Looking up quickly and glowing a dark blue from her biotics, though weakly seeing as how she had drained them earlier, her sharp green eyes honed in on the little ambush that was waiting for them.

A small group of geth, about four or so, led by a yellow-green looking Krogan who had on a nasty sneer and held a mean looking shotgun stood between the group of three soldiers and a scientist and the exit. Both Wrex and the Commander pulled out their weapons as well after spotting them and Liara readied her biotics, but this just made the enemy Krogan chuckle and grunt.

"Surrender now and hand over the Asari, then I may let you live."

Shepard's blue eyes narrowed in response and she didn't lower her weapon as she replied. "In case you didn't notice this whole place is coming down." But this didn't seem to faze the Krogan in the slightest. In fact, he didn't even seem to care.

"Yes, exhilarating, isn't it?" Blood red iris's honed in on Liara as he said this and his pupils turned in to slits, his focus all too clear as he continued to speak. "Now hand the doctor over."

"No. Whatever you want from me you're not going to get it!" The Asari doctor was indignant as she said this, her stare meeting the hostile Krogan's own without fear. The Commander stepped forward and stood slightly in front of her to make a point as well.

"She'll be staying with us, thanks."

"Not an option. Saren wants her, and he always gets what he wants." The Krogan battle master turned to his geth soldier and motioned with his head towards the group that had guns pointed towards them. "Kill them. Spare the Asari if you can. If not, doesn't matter to me at this point."

Within seconds of him saying that the Krogan and his troop pulled out their own weapons and opened fire at the Normandy team, causing them to scatter and take cover behind whatever was jutting out enough to crouch behind. Of course Shepard made sure to keep Liara near her, Wrex was squaring off with a trooper and FayLynn had been cornered by the battle master. His sadistic leathery smile showed that the Krogan was getting pure enjoyment from seeing his enemy at his mercy, but little did he know that she was anything but ordinary.

"Stay back!" Fay tried to hit him with a warp, but her energy level was too low to make a real impact so it merely bounced off his shields. He laughed and slung out an arm, knocking the biotic to the side and against the wall before she could fire her weapon. Her body hit against it painfully with a dull 'thud'. The Krogan walked closer and continued to spit venomous insults at her as she struggled to get up, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her in pain.

"Humans really are pitiful creatures. And it looks like you're also the freak of the pack, even better! What the hell was done to you for you to have these extra parts huh? Experiments, torture? Did they break you little cat?" His voice was teasing and full of hate as he gave her another shove that made his target stumble back again. FayLynn's anger was rising by the second and she couldn't help but growl lowly, her teeth elongating, ears flattening and her pupils narrowing in to slits. He was going to push her too far, she could feel it. And may the gods save him when that time came.

"I'm not a freak you slobbering dinosaur. Now either you back off or I tear you to shreds!" The Agents voice held a strength that the Krogan hadn't expected, but it did not deter him in the slightest. There wasn't any reason to be afraid of this flesh bag before him. The thought of watching the light in her eyes fade as he crushed her slowly made him grin.

"Rrrrhgh, big talk for such a weakling. It's time I finish you off!" As he said this the battle master thrust his fist forward with enough force to crush a steel wall, but it was caught and stopped in its tracks.

"What the-Ahhhh!" His confusion soon turned in to fear and his words in to pained yelling as the biotic whom had captured his hand began to twist it backwards, her features transforming from human into something completely alien. Her armor retracted from her body and folded back into a special container on her back, made specifically for this reason. The body suit she had on underneath would be destroyed in the process, but those were easy enough to come by. The chamber around them rumbled again threateningly and the Krogan looked around in a panicked manner, trying to get the attention of anyone. His red eyes widened further in panic as hair began to grow and encase the whole body of the woman now holding him captive. Her limbs elongated in a painful looking manner and claws appeared on what were now paws; their color being that of the darkest onyx and gleaming as the light reflected off them. If he looked close enough the Krogan was almost sure he would have been able to see his petrified face looking right back at him.

FayLynn sensed his fear as she continued to morph and she silently enjoyed the turn of events. Her vision of the enemy before her sharpened as her two eyes became four, the same striking green that they always were indicating that it was still her. By the time, Fay had finally fully transformed into what can only be described as a genetically modified killing machine, the Krogan's arm was completely twisted around and he was crippled from the pain. His cries fell upon deaf ears as the rest of his group and his captors were still in the midst of battle, though it seemed the Normandy crew was winning.

"Somebody help me!"

"Nobody is going to save you this time." Red eyes widened as a voice he immediately recognized as this mutant's entered his mind, and as he watched her face contort into a snarl and lunge he could do nothing but wait for death. Razor sharp fangs sunk deep into the neck of the battle master and clamped down with tremendous force, getting a firm hold of the flesh before it was ripped away in one swift motion. Blood spurted from the wound and quickly pooled on to the floor, creating a crimson wash that stained the fur of FayLynn's paws. She released the body and watched as it crumpled to the floor, but his eyes followed his movements and he gurgled out several words, blood oozing from his mouth now as well.

"You're…. what are…. you..."

She waited for a moment before speaking through the mind link she had established, making his suffering go on even longer. When she did speak, her voice was devoid of any of the normal warmth it usually had. Only a stone cold poisonous tone was heard. "I am the fear inside of you."

As she said this she bared her fangs and struck, letting her claws easily slice through the remaining flesh of the Krogan's neck and completely decapitated him in one swift motion. Lifting her head up she then let out a tremendous roar that nearly shook the ground, not being able to fight the instinct to display her triumph and superiority. It was only after the shaft tremored more violently that she stopped and looked around, nostrils flaring. FayLynn's ears perked as she saw that the last of the geth had been killed, but Liara was now looking at her with fear written on the Asari's face as plain as day. Not surprising.

"Commander what is that-"

"No time to explain we have to move!"

It was then that they all remembered the crumbling ruins around them and the team began to make a break for the exit, hoping that they could escape in time. Fay hadn't waited to change back and instead ran behind everyone, lagging slightly from exhaustion that was making her limbs grow heavy. She just had to push a little bit further. Chunks of rock fell into their path as they ran and pushed them to their limits, but as soon as the exit door came in to view Joker spoke up over the Commanders comm link.

"Just arrived Commander, but you guys had better hurry before we're all engulfed in lava."

"You heard the man! Move, move, move!" Pushing through the last few feet with vigor and ignoring the dust and rocks flying in their path, Liara, Wrex, Shepard and FayLynn all burst out of the ruins and made a break for the awaiting Normandy.

Everyone ahead of her had no problem, but being in the back of the group Fay had no way of seeing the gap between the edge of the metal catwalk and the platform of the ship's cargo bay; and because of this she fell short. Her back legs pushed off with all their might even though she knew it wouldn't be enough, and she was sure for all those watching her they could see the realization dawn on her face. It was then that a miracle happened. Or perhaps it was sheer luck that she had been in her 'feral' form. Because she had been reaching so far, her claws had managed to sink into the metal enough to hold her body on the very edge of the platform; unfortunately, that also meant that her back end was now dangling over the edge dangerously close to an ever-growing river of lava.

"Rawwrrggh! Rooow!" Her struggles turned into growls and hisses of rage as FayLynn struggled and reached out, calling for help from anybody within a close enough proximity. Luckily Wrex had turned around to check for her and saw her scrabbling for a hold, trying to pull herself back up, and rushed over to help.

"I gotcha Daye! Hold on!" The Krogan reached his struggling teammate just as her claws began sliding down the platform, screeching as her hold began to slip, and took a hold of her scruff; ignoring the angered roar he got in response. She would thank him later. With strength that only a Krogan could possess, he yanked her up onto the platform and threw her partially into the cargo hold so that Joker could close the bay doors. She had rolled a bit and was panting hard, but for the most part appeared no worse for wear and unharmed. As was the rest of the team and Dr. T'Soni.

"Tell me that what I just pulled off wasn't amazing?" The sound of the cocky pilot's voice broke the tense silence in the cargo bay as Shepard and her team tried to collect themselves, their blood still pumping from the close brush with death. How he could always find room to always make a joke the Commander would never know, but the humor was appreciated...usually.

"Yes, Joker you did a great job. Now just get us off this mess of a damn planet, will you?"

With a laugh, still in his voice the pilot responded candidly, not missing a beat. "Aye, aye Commander."

* * *

"I thought you said you weren't going to use the 'curse' that was given to you anymore?"

"Yeah well... things change."

"But not like that. Something had to have changed your mind. What happened on Therum?"

"Nothing. We fought geth and picked up Liara T'Soni. That's it."

"But that's not really it, is it? FayLynn just tell me." Having enough of her avoiding his question Garrus reached out and grabbed his friends arm gently, trying not to act like he was telling her what to do. After she and the others had come up to the debriefing room to talk about their next move her nose had started to bleed, so she excused herself and went to the med bay. Garrus almost followed her, but Shepard assured the Turian that she was fine and to wait until she had finished talking to leave. That was when he heard about the ruins collapsing and Fay's decision to use the abilities that had been implanted in her so long ago. And now, as she looked at him wearily through hazy green eyes he couldn't help but feel like he should have waited to bother her. She was probably exhausted from exerting so much of her biotics in so little time.

"I just...lost my temper. This Krogan battle master corned me and was smacking me around, calling me a freak, and I just got a little heated. It was like I could hear my body telling me to change...so I did." She sounded like there was more that she wanted to say, but something was stopping her. She looked around the CIC deck that they were currently in and then pulled him towards the stairs that led down towards the elevator, not saying a word as she pulled him into the metal box with her and hit the button for the engineering deck.

The silence was tense on the ride down and when the elevator finally stopped Fay strode out towards the Mako, Garrus right on her heels.

"Are you oka-"

"Shh. Not out here. There are prying eyes." As she said this FayLynn motioned with her head towards Ashley and then looked over at a few more of the crew members who were in the cargo bay checking inventory. Obviously, she had something to say that she didn't want everybody hearing. Understandable. But Garrus still didn't understand how they were supposed to get complete privacy, at least not until Fay opened the Mako's side door and motioned for him to follow. As they both got settled inside the vehicle and the door shut, the biotic woman sighed and stretched her arms a bit, trying to relax. Waiting a moment to think about what she wanted to say before speaking. The words felt heavy as they fell out of her mouth.

"I...it just felt right to change. Like there had been an enormous pressure building up inside of me and it was released when I let my body do what it needed to do. And the worst part was that I liked the feeling, Garrus. I liked being this mutant animal that tore that Krogan to pieces! What the hell is wrong with me?!" Tears had begun to form in FayLynn's eyes as she became slightly hysteric, distressed at the fact that she was embracing the one thing she hated about herself. Not only did it merely reinforce the fact that she really was a freak it reminded her of how she came to get that power. Remembering was the worst part.

Garrus's mandibles were tight against his face as he felt conflicted over what to do. Obviously, the right thing to do would be to try and comfort his friend, but at the same time he didn't really know how to go about doing that. Humans were not like Turians when it came to their feelings; Turians were very direct and sure. Humans...well, they could say that they were feeling one way and then be the complete opposite. Rubbing the back of his fringe as he tried not to look as awkward as possible the blue eyes officer did his best to keep his voice encouraging as he reassured the woman in front of him.

"Nothing is wrong with you. Maybe this is a way of your body telling you that it's time to stop fighting yourself and just...be who you are."

"I don't want this...thing, to be who I am! All people see when they look at me is ears and a tail. They see something that doesn't belong." In her mind FayLynn was cringing at how pitiful she sounded saying all these things, but it was how she really felt. On the one side, she really did want to accept every part of herself, the bad ones included, but it was just never that simple.

"Is that what you think I see?" A pause between them followed the Garrus's question before she answered.

"Do you?" Her voice was low and unsure and her eyes were cast downwards, looking at her feet to try and think about anything else. Anything would be better than this awkward situation she had put herself in.

"Spirits Fay! How could you even think that?! Are you that insecure?!"

"Yes!" FayLynn raised her voice more than she probably should have, but there was no way to stop it. The tears that had been collecting finally spilled over and ran down her face, staining the skin as they went. Her face contorted in to a mask of pain and sadness, staring at Garrus in desperation before dropping her head into her hands. The last time she had broken down like this was before she left the C-sec Academy. To be brought down to this level again was embarrassing, especially when it was in front of her Turian crush/best friend.

Whilst the human woman in front of him began to cry, the now unsure blue eyed Turian was trying to figure out what to do. As a young boy, he was never taught how to deal with emotional women and as a man he never really handled it too well either, but it wasn't like he could just sit there and watch her breakdown without consoling her in some way. Swallowing his nerves and fears of being pushed away, Garrus moved forwards and switched seats so that he was sitting next to FayLynn instead of across from her. He then scooted over so that their thighs were touching and he lightly nudged her with his shoulder as he spoke, trying to sound as understanding as possible.

"I'm sorry Fay, I didn't mean to call you insecure. You know I don't see you as anything but someone I care about." As he said this Garrus saw Fay shake her head and lift it out of her hands to look over at him, eyes shining from the tears.

"Please don't apologize Garrus, it isn't your fault. I'm just being stupid and sensitive... freaking female hormones are terrible. Making me cry and act all...rrgh."

"Huh, you are a lot of things Fay, but stupid isn't one of them. You're one of the smartest people I know." Well, she wasn't yelling at him and pushing him away. That was a good sign.

"Liar." A smile had now worked its way on to her face and she rolled her eyes at his good-natured exaggeration. He always knew how to cheer her up even if he didn't mean to. As he continued to spout off all sorts of compliments that were mostly silly Fay leaned her head on to his shoulder, sighing as she began to calm down and her emotions settled. This caused Garrus to stutter a bit and rub the back of his fringe with his free hand as he tried not to think about how warm she was against his arm.

"Well uh-I mean yeah-or no...do you enjoy messing with me?"

"Immensely. Thanks for being my friend Garrus." FayLynn looked up at the Turian as she said this and gave him a crooked smile, a few stray tears escaping their imprisonment and streaking down her cheeks. Garrus saw this and brought his free hand up to brush them away gently, letting it linger near her neck as he heard her breath catch. Had her eyes always glowed that brightly?

"So, uh, I guess until we reach the Citadel I'll go and rest or something. Maybe meditate in the training room; I heard from Dr. T'Soni that it helps with control over biotics." Fay tried to keep the blush from her cheeks as she felt the heat of their proximity. So badly did her body want to act on her feelings, but what if something between them did happen and it affected the mission? It could put them all in danger during a fight or worse; get Fay and Garrus kicked off the ship. No. She would keep it together for the both of them. Besides, waiting never killed anybody.

After getting all her rational thoughts together the C-sec Agent smiled softly at her Turian counterpart, placing her hand over his own lightly and squeezing before pulling him close. Even though it was awkward in the cramped space of the Mako the gesture was still appreciated as Garrus returned her hug after a moment's hesitation. Maybe he been a little too into the moment, but the warmth from her words and her gesture meant that he hadn't overstepped either.

"Thank you for being there for me, Garrus. You don't know how much it means to me." She then pulled away and moved to get up and leave, then stopped, turned back around to place a chaste kiss on the Turians cheek. Her own face turned cherry red with embarrassment as she then left in a hurry. Of course, she would do that after such a bold move. The recipient of her affection didn't move for another minute or two after FayLynn had left, merely touching the spot where she had kissed him and noting how warm it still was before talking to himself. Saying the words that he could never gather the courage to say in front of her.

"And you don't know how much you mean to me..."


	10. Chapter 10

_**Ayyyy Chapter 10 is here. If you're enjoying this (or if you're not) leave a review and let me know how everything is! I own nothing Mass Effect related!**_

* * *

The Citadel. A breathtaking example of centuries old ingenuity that could never be replicated, nor replaced. It stood as the heart of the galactic civilization and the seat of the council. Many different species from all walks of life gathered there to sell their goods, live, connect with family and much more. As the SR1 Normandy pulled in to the docking station several members of her crew got ready to leave and visit on the Citadel for the next day, taking advantage of the little break that they would have whilst their Commander attended to business. Among those getting ready were FayLynn, Ashley, Kaidan, Tali and Garrus. Most of Shepard's main team were buzzing with pent up energy that they hopped could be spent at a bar later, or maybe even the casino. Too long had they been cramped up together and it had made them all irritable towards one another, so hopefully the break could relieve some of that tension.

"Well Shepard was made a Specter last time we were on the Citadel, wonder what'll happen this time." As she said this Ashley chuckled and then eyed Tali as the Quarian spoke up next. Her tone was chipper and flanged because of her suit translator.

"Hopefully nothing that's bad for us. Keelah, I just want to stock up on more antibiotics and dextro food that isn't that disgusting paste."

Garrus raised a taloned hand and agreed. "I second that."

Laughs rang out through the airlock as it decompressed and opened to reveal the catwalk that led towards the elevator. The group wasted no time in following their Commander and piling in the small space, albeit a bit awkwardly. Good thing Wrex had decided to just stay on the ship. It seemed like hours instead of a mere minute as they waited for the doors to open to reveal the C-sec headquarters, but when it finally did stop most everybody nearly fell out in an attempt to escape the confined space quickly. FayLynn grunted as an elbow was thrown in to her side and Tali complained as one of the other engineers stepped on her foot.

"Ooof!"

"Hey watch it!"

"Sorry." Finally, they were free. As everybody began to go their separate ways to take care of their personal business, Fay and Garrus made their way towards the transit that would take them to the upper wards living area. Both had planned to check up on Sterling and then head over to the markets to grab extra supplies, then to meet up with a few others at Flux for a few drinks. Everyone had seen enough of Chora's Den to last a lifetime so it was going to be avoided at all costs.

The air between the Turian and the human on the ride to her apartment was calm enough, though because of their last encounter emotions were nervous with a tinge of embarrassed. Fay hadn't cried in front of anybody in a long time, meanwhile Garrus knew that his close proximity had been uncalled for, but then again, she hadn't pushed him away. He had noticed a kind of restraint hidden in her emerald gaze as she had looked up at him in the Mako; almost as if she were stopping herself from acting on anything. Why would she do that if she felt something towards him? Did she feel repulsed for having feelings towards a Turian when she herself was a human? No. Impossible, Fay would never think like that. And little did he know that as these thoughts ran through his mind, the woman beside him was thinking about the same thing.

'He must think that I'm such a bitch for pushing him aside like that, or at the very least thinks that I want to avoid him.' As she thought that FayLynn's mouth pulled down in to a slight frown. The last thing she wanted to do was push away her best friend, especially because of their feelings. Why did everything have to be so damn complicated, why couldn't it be simple? People always said that the older you got the easier it became, but they never actually said what 'it' was. It certainly couldn't have been life because that had seemed to become more unbearably difficult by the day. There was always another colony too save or more planets that had to be surveyed; personal tasks being thrown at Shepard left and right so often that it looked like the woman barely had time to breath. In turn, the Commander would come down on her team harder than necessary and leave them all irritable as well.

"Now arriving at the upper wards living area. Have a nice day." The all too pleasant voice of the VI rang out through the tram cars and stirred the two Normandy crew members out of their minds, throwing them back in to reality. They then fumbled to exit the transit and mumbled apologies to one another as they bumped shoulders, saying nothing else as the two walked up the stairs and down the hall where FayLynn's door was located. Forgetting about the earlier awkwardness she pulled out her key card and scanned it over the doors sensor with a smile, the thought of seeing her companion instantly reviving her mood. Not that it had been ruined, merely dampened.

Her voice raised in pitch as she called her pet while simultaneously stepping through the doorway with a spring in her step. "Sterlingggg! Mama's home baby!" Silence followed her calling the Nalpa and Fay sighed as she set her bag down on the couch, walking out to the kitchen to grab a drink. As she opened the door to her refrigerator she turned her head to throw out a question to her friend from over her shoulder.

"Garrus do you want anything?"

"Sure. You have dextro safe drinks?" His eyebrow ridge raised in surprise as he sat down on the couch heavily, looking around for the elusive Nalpa that had yet to show himself. Odd. Usually he was all over Fay when she came home from a trip. Shrugging and turning back to look at the woman whom was currently halfway in her refrigerator he waited for a response to his question.

"Of course, I can't be inconsiderate to my dextro acid based guests, now can I? Would you prefer lime or raspberry flavored?"

"Hmm...raspberry."

"Mrrrow!"

"Agh!" Garrus flinched to the side at hearing the sudden noise then immediately relaxed as he realized that the sound came from none other than Sterling. The mischievous little creature had a habit of creeping up quietly and scaring the soul out of anybody that wasn't expecting it, but his adorable demeanor always made up for it. As the Nalpa lept up on to the couch with the Turian he began to purr roughly and rub his head against Garrus's taloned hand, the feathers on his face ruffling slightly. That was one of the things that everyone loved about the species. They had feathers covering their hindquarters, ears and cheeks and they were silky soft to the touch.

"There you are you little punk! Were you hiding?!" Fay had walked in just as Garrus was about to pet Sterling and the beast immediately abandoned the Turian for his owner. He jumped at her just as she set the drinks down and she caught him with a laugh, loving the way he purred and continually rubbed his face against each side of her neck. If there was one thing that anybody that knew FayLynn it was that Sterling was her whole world. He comforted her whenever she had a bad day and was always there no matter what. And now, as he chirped in happiness and began to paw at his owners' face, the Turian observing them couldn't help but smile, his mandibles flaring out slightly.

"I swear that there isn't a pet, or Nalpa for that matter, that's more loved than that one. And it's like he even plays along with your games."

"That's cause he's my handsome feathery fella." Fay nuzzled her target of affection as she said this and sat down onto the couch, putting Sterling off to the side and picking her drink up once more whilst handing Garrus his own. They drank quietly for a few minutes, simply enjoying the silence, Sterling now sleeping between them, until Fay remembered something.

"Oh! Hey do you think that Sterling could stay in the cargo bay with you until I find him a good place to sleep on the Normandy? I really don't want to force him to lay in a sleeping pod." Her eyes were apologetic and her voice was pleading; it was as if she knew that he couldn't say no. "Uh sure. I don't see why not." The smile Garrus received in response was dazzling and completely worth anything that Sterling would throw his way.

"You really don't mind?"

"No. It's fine."

"Because if it's not I can just-"

"Fay. It's okay really. If it wasn't I would tell you."

A pause. "Okay. Well since that's out of the way what should our first stop be?"

Garrus tapped his chin with a taloned finger, pondering the question before deciding. "How about we check out some weapons and mods at Calyx's gun shop. Then we can stop by the armor shop, the general store, drop everything off at the Normandy and finally meet up with Alenko, Williams and the rest of the crew at Flux." She nodded in agreement and took another sip from her drink. The liquid washing down her throat refreshingly and making her sigh in content. Nothing like relaxing in between strenuous missions. If there was one thing that could clear the air between friends, it was some good old gun and armor shopping.

* * *

"As if the Council needed more of a reason to give us problems!"

"How is it my fault that the ruin collapsed? The important thing is that my team and Dr. T'Soni made it out safely."

"Yes, well, I doubt they really care about that right now." Udina scoffed and went back to typing on his computer as Shepard rolled her eyes and strode out of his office. She had come back to the Citadel to restock and let the Ambassador and Anderson know how she was doing, but apparently Udina had a pole shoved up his ass currently. And judging by how stiffly he was sitting it wasn't going to get pulled out anytime soon.

Dark red hair swung to the side and rested on strong, yet slender shoulders as the frustrated Commander walked across the greeting room, stopping by the transit panel to select a destination. Her ocean blues roamed over the different places until they stopped on the Markets. Guess now was as good a time as any to order the supplies and have them delivered to the ship, but just as she went to press the button a voice off to her left stopped her, causing her head to pivot and her bangs to swing in to her face.

"Commander, hey. I thought you would still be talking with Anderson and Udina." Kaidan's hazel eyes watched the woman in front of him carefully as she moved the red strands from her face. He tried not to be obvious about it, but he couldn't look away; especially when her striking blue eyes locked on to his own. It was almost as if they could put him in a trance that he couldn't break free of.

"Oh, Lieutenant. I was, but they had something else come up so I was going to the Markets to order the supplies."

"Mind if I join?" She thought it over momentarily, not entirely sure that she wanted to have company now. Then a small smile accompanied by a nod was seen from Shepard. Her eyes twinkling with slight mirth. "Sure."

Both soldiers took the transit to the Markets and looked around, searching for the right merchant. All kinds of life always walked around the wards, especially the Markets. Turians, Volus, Salarians, Asari, Elcor, Hanar; you name it they were there. The sound of terminals blipping and aliens chatting covered the area like a blanket of low static noise that was never really gone. It was like it was what made the wards the wards. After walking for a few minutes and eyeing a few different stalls and their wares, Kaidan spotted one over in the far corner and began to walk over, calling Shepard as he did so.

"How about this one Commander? I heard that Expat sells his wares at reasonable prices."

"Alright. Let's see how reasonable he can be." She said this with a smirk on her face and a determined set of her shoulders. Anybody that knew Myra Shepard knew that she was the queen of persuasion and reason; she could make damn near anybody agree with her on almost anything. So, as she and Alenko reached the stall and Expat she leaned against the counter, nodding towards the Volus in greeting. They were jumpy things at times, but they were also masters at bargaining and would haggle prices like it was their life work.

"I heard you had the best wares here Expat. My name is Commander Shepard and I'm looking to restock my ship with supplies." The Volus breathed heavily through his suit, something that every one of his species did, and talked in his spaced sentences. Each one as grueling to listen to as the last.

"Ah yes... I do indeed have such wares... why don't you take a look?" Expat gestured to the catalog kiosk beside him and let Shepard scan through, waiting patiently for her to make a decision. Little did the Volus know that the silver-tongued Commander was thinking of the right words to get the merchant to lower his prices. Her tongue clicked as if she were mulling some of the information around before she turned back to look at Expat once more, eyebrows pulling down to create a sort of worried look. As she spoke her voice held feign disappointment also to try and play up the façade.

"I would love to get a lot of these items ordered to my ship, but the brass put me on a tight budget."

"Oh... I see...such a shame."

"Yes, it is. Especially since me and my whole crew are chasing a dangerous criminal across the terminus systems. The geth really deplete resources you know?" This made Expat pause in his sifting through a box, head turning slightly. "Geth?" Shepard smiled wickedly inside of her mind. Hook, line and sinker. She now leaned forward and crossed her arms over the counter, nodding heavily and pursing her lips.

"Yeah. The man I'm chasing has a large army of geth following him, but that's all I can say. Thank you for your time today though." She nodded in thanks and turned to leave, her posture slightly defeated, until Expat shouted out to her. His voice was slightly shaken from hearing about geth.

"Look... I wouldn't want to be the one to stop brave soldiers... from fighting the evil that threatens us all. Please...order what you need...and I will take off another 40% from the total. Consider it a gift from all of us...here at the Citadel."

"Wow! I really appreciate this Expat, thank you. When we finally take this criminal down it won't just be because of me." Sounding much more sure and humble than before the Volus slightly bowed to the Commander and then moved on to help another customer whilst Shepard ordered her goods. As she went about her business she smirked over at Kaidan whom was now shaking his head and rubbing a hand down his face. He just watched a poor merchant get worked over by the first human specter and she hadn't even turned on the full charm. Just sad. And impressive.

"You know for all the good that you do, playing a merchant doesn't seem all too nice."

"Well it wasn't like I lied, and we really do need those supplies. Saving money is just a bonus Lieutenant."

"Rigggght." Following Shepard as she walked away from the merchant's stall Kaidan checked his omni-tool for the time, noting that he also had a missed message. It was from Williams; he would have to check that later. Right now, he needed to ask his commanding officer if she wanted to go for drinks. With everyone else of course.

"Hey Shepard."

"Hmm?"

"The rest if the crew wanted to know, well I do too, but maybe you could-I mean you don't have you- it would be cool if...you would join us for a drink at Flux?" Smooth going Alenko. The dark haired man mentally punched himself for the obviously nervous statement he just stuttered out. It was almost as bad as his first date. Not that he wanted to date the Commander! Dammit he just needed to get his mind out of the gutter. Whilst the flustered Lieutenant Alenko fought with himself, Myra pondered the question he had ground out to her. Would it be too inappropriate to spend a few hours relaxing before risking her life to stop the galaxies biggest threat?

After another few seconds of walking in silence Shepard finally decided on an answer. She looked over at Kaidan with nothing but a neutral expression to try and keep it at least semi-professional, showing a small smile though to keep him relaxed. "Sure. What time?"

The man in question smiled back and gained a bit of confidence and straightened out more. "7:00. I'm going to go grab a few things and then change. See you later Shepard."

* * *

"Garrus it's already 6:00! We have to get this stuff back to my apartment and then meet the others at Flux!"

"Well it's not my fault that they got in new scopes and high caliber barrels! And you weren't much better with those new mods for your carnifex!"

"Hey! You leave Lyle out of this!"

The Turian paused in his walking/jogging and raised a brow ridge. "Lyle?" He didn't want to believe that she had named her pistol, but it **was** FayLynn, and she really did love that pistol. Maybe to an unhealthy extent.

A toothy smile answered his question and she chuckled as she unlocked her door and walked in, Garrus close behind her. They both had two bags apiece that were full of weapons mods and new armor upgrades, and it would have been worse if Fay hadn't checked the time when she had. The two friends had lost themselves in the wonders of shiny heat sinks, new thermal clip extenders, new sniper rifles and much more. It was like the awkward feelings from the other day had been forgotten about for the moment. As they unloaded their bags until tomorrow Fay refilled Sterling's food and water dishes before going to her room to sift through her clothes; she definitely wasn't wearing her Normandy crew outfit to Flux. Too uncomfortable.

"No...no...ugh no...ah ha!" She made a noise of accomplishment as she pulled out a pair of form fitting under armor pants that were a deep blue in color. They were close to the uniform pants but with much more flexibility; perfect for outing occasions. Next to be pulled out was a dark gray tank top and a C-sec zip up; then it was topped off with dark brown ankle boots with buckles on the side. The green-eyed woman examined herself in her mirror after changing, noting how the pants showed off her shapely legs and backside quite nicely. Usually she couldn't care less about how her legs and butt looked or what anybody else thought. Tonight, was an exception. It was time to let loose a little and release her inner beast. Actually, maybe not that far.

With a bounce in her step and more light in her eyes than usual, the cat eared agent made her way back out to the living room, petting Sterling who was meowing for attention as she passed him. The Nalpa seemed to always know whenever she was going out and he would always put up an act; usually it ended up with Fay having to run out the door. Still petting the jealous animal, she looked over to the Turian who was currently looking over his new rifle scope. He had even taken off his visor momentarily to get a closer look. He was even so enthralled in the mod that he didn't even look up at his friend until she called him a third time, her voice slightly impatient.

"Garrus!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry Fay I-" The rest of Garrus's sentence was cut short as he swallowed his words at seeing her. Earlier, whilst he had been waiting for FayLynn to get ready the Turian had decided to go over his purchases, figuring that she would take at least twenty minutes to get ready. What he hadn't expected when she had finally gotten his attention was how...well...form fitting her outfit would be; or at least her pants. 'Focus Garrus focus.' He shook himself mentally before fumbling for his visor and his words, forcing a sentence out of his mouth so he didn't seem like a fool. The last thing he needed to do was act like a drooling pre-pubescent teen.

"Sorry. Are you ready?"

"Yep. Let's go. We have about ten minutes until 7 so that'll give us time to start drinking before the others get there."

Garrus nodded in response and followed closely behind Fay, trying not to look down while he did so for obvious, very noticeable reasons. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Pounding music thrummed throughout the casino/club, its patrons dancing along, while blue and purple lights flashed against the walls and lit up the dance floor in a hypnotizing pattern. Glasses clinked as couples and groups shared drink after drink to alleviate stress from work, or to simply have a good time. Among these groups of club goers was a handful and a half of the Normandy crew. They had taken up about three tables near the further corner of the bottom half of Flux, about four people to each table give or take. One of the bartenders, a human named Ava, was currently bringing over another tray of shots to a table consisting of Wrex, Fay, Tali and an engineer named Caroline Grenado. She and Tali had talked quite often, but as far as the other two occupants went she had been a little shy at first. Especially with Wrex. His demeanor could be a little intimidating at times.

As Ava set the tray of drinks down, making sure to hand Tali the one made specially for dextros, she motioned towards the bar. "Anything else for you folks right now?"

FayLynn answered with a pleasant smile, the few shots she already had having relaxed her. "I think we'll be okay for a little bit Ava, thank you." She then threw back one of her two shots of ryncol in which Wrex had so generously ordered for her. After swallowing the putrid liquid, the agent then turned to the Krogan next to her who had already pounded down both of his drinks. Amazingly he was still mostly sober as well thanks to his extra livers. Or whatever Krogan had that were like them.

"Hey, I thought you didn't want to come?"

"I changed my mind. Seeing you drunk is something that I didn't want to miss." The Krogan's leathery face stretched into a grin after saying this and watched the flushed face of the human closest to him smile back goofily. She was obviously getting knocked on her ass from the ryncol. Most humans had that reaction after their first, but seeing as how FayLynn had been mutated it took twice as much to get her drunk.

"True. Hey Tali, Grenado, how you doin over there?"

"Oh, you know, we're...we're doin. Is that how I'm supposed t'say it?" The bit of slur near the end of the Quarian's sentence told everyone listening that she was on her way out. And as for Caroline, well, she was already a sheet to the wind by the look of her glossy cerulean eyes; though she did make it through about five beers and three shots before getting to that point. Fay giggled in response and threw back her second shot, cringing a bit as it went down. Steele blue-gray eyes watched this from another table a few yards away as a taloned hand lifted a shot to its owners' mouth, mandibles flicking out a bit as the liquid traveled down their throat.

"Distracted Vakarian?"

"Hmm?" Garrus looked over to see Shepard giving him her famous smirk saying that she already knew the answer. It was obvious to her that her crew member felt something for the mutated human at the other table, and she didn't really blame him. The woman had stunning emerald eyes that were framed by long dark lashes, bold brows that expressed anger very well, plump pink lips that could curve into a smile easily, but could also frown just as quickly. A nicely shaped body that wasn't stick thin too. Now Myra wasn't into women like that, but she would be the first to admit when she came across another attractive female. And FayLynn Daye seemed to fit the bill, in her opinion, for the Turian across from intuitive Commander.

Intending to see how much she could pull from the slightly distracted and possibly tipsy sniper Shepard took a sip of her cocktail, swirling it slowly as she spoke. "So, I take it that you and Fay have known one another for a while?"

A nod in response. Good, she was getting somewhere. "Yeah. We became friends at C-sec Academy and got assigned to the same section of the Citadel after graduating about two years ago,I became an officer in investigation and she became an undercover agent specialist."

"Interesting. So, you two are pretty close then?"

Mandibles twitched a bit as Garrus tried to figure out why Shepard was asking him these questions, but he complied none the less. What was the harm in them anyways? "Uh yeah, we are. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious about my crew is all." Intelligent blue eyes smiled at him and he could see something devious behind them, but the human woman simply continued to sip at her drink and then turned to talk to Joker. Saying something about how she could probably fly the Normandy just as well as he could. Shrugging and going back to scanning the room Garrus spotted a glimpse of a familiar tail slipping into the crowd on the dance floor and as his eyes went to look at where the owner of said tail had been sitting his suspicions were confirmed. Thinking of a quick excuse to leave his current table the Turian muttered something about 'asking Wrex a question about ryncol' and then proceeded to move over towards the krogan; sitting in the now empty chair next to him.

"Where'd she go?"

"By **she** , I'm assuming you meant Daye. Some human came over and asked her to dance and of course in her tipsy state she agreed and followed him over there." Wrex gestured to the mass of dancing humans, Asari and Turians on the opposite side of the room, his leathery face holding a grimace on it. Partly from the noise in Flux and partly from the Turian sitting next to him. It wasn't that he hated Garrus as an individual, but he didn't feel particularly cozy around him either. The Turians had played a big role in plaguing his race with the Genophage, a genetic disease that allowed only 1 in 1000 krogan children to survive birth. But that wasn't something he wanted on his mind at that moment.

"Did uh...did he look good."

"What?"

"The human. Did he look like a good specimen?" It came out just as awkward as it sounded and Garrus could do nothing but internally cringe. Why was this even a question he was asking? FayLynn was free to enjoy her time with other people and that included human men. But apparently Wrex had already caught on to what provoked that sort of question out of his teammate and the Krogan smiled a bit cheekily; if such a thing was possible. This was interesting. Deciding to give the Turian a little incentive he decided to exaggerate his reply only slightly.

"Well I can't say for myself, but Daye seemed quite taken with him. She even did that odd human giggle that females tend to do when they are smitten."

"She did?!" That one got him. Mandibles flared out and his flanged voice jumped up a notch as Garrus imagined Fay hanging all over this man, the image slightly frustrating.

"Yup. But hey, it's our night off so why not enjoy it huh?" Wrex raised his drink in the air slightly, watching the Turian, and then downed it in one go.

"Right. Yeah." Now seething with jealousy Garrus decided to do a little investigating. Without another word, he stood up from the table and made his way over to the dance floor quickly all the while trying to seem auspicious. Music pulsed all around him and shook his bones to the beat of the music whilst the lights pummeled his vision without mercy. Sweaty bodies of dancers brushed up against him as he weaved him way through the crowd, trying to move his own body to seem as if he were dancing as well but failing; all the while he was looking around for a familiar pair of ears. Unfortunately for him it wasn't until he had waded through another few feet of hell before he caught sight of what he had been searching for.

There, off to the side where there was a bit more space, was FayLynn and the mysterious man whom had caught her attention. She was dancing amazingly enough seeing as she was usually too self-conscious, but the way her body moved said something entirely different. Shoulders shook smoothly and hips rotated fluidly in time with the beat. Wild dark red-brown hair was flowing around her wildly as she moved her head from side to side at times, some strands sticking to her face from the bit of perspiration that had collected. Green eyes were bright, even amongst the club lights, as she looked up at the man whom had asked her to dance and she spoke with a giddy tone. "This is so much fun! I haven't dance in such a long time!"

"I'm glad I convinced you! My names Ryan by the way." He flashed her a charming smile and Fay's inner drunk girl swooned, though she wasn't completely senseless even amongst her tipsiness.

"FayLynn." She only gave him her name seeing as there wasn't much reason to say anything else. Instead the woman let her eyes roam over his features and analyze him, trying to see what kind of person she was dealing with. His dark chocolate colored eyes had flecks of gold here and there which were complimented by sandy blond hair and a bit of scruff along his jaw and upper lip. Speaking of jaws his was quite solid looking. Not block like, but nicely shaped so that it matched his facial features. It wasn't until she heard him speak up until she realized that she was still staring and Fay quickly averted her eyes to the patrons around her, watching them as if they were interesting.

"So maybe we could grab a drink somewhere else? Maybe one of the cafe's nearby? Have something to eat while we're there." His voice was suggestive, but it was also questioning. Fay didn't really think that he wanted to try anything, and she wasn't stupid enough to fall for it anyways. He was probably just trying to get in her pants anyways.

Shrugging a bit FayLynn continued to dance, moving to spin to add a little flare to her dance, but she suddenly froze as she felt a hand firmly clasp her bottom. Her tail frizzed up in response and her ears lay flat as she turned around to snarl at the man. "Get the f-" But before she could even finish her sentence the man, Ryan, was already being snatched away from her and was thrown to the floor roughly. Looking to her left she saw the person that had intervened so quickly and couldn't help but gasp, feeling embarrassed that they had seen what happened.

"Garrus!"

"One second please. I need to explain manners to your friend over there." Not waiting for Fay to respond the worked up Turian strode over to where Ryan was trying to pick himself up and grabbed the human by the front of his shirt, hauling him up so that they were eye level. As Garrus spoke his voice was low and threatening, a hint of a growl in his flanged voice.

"That wasn't a very good move on your part. I suggest you leave now if you wish to keep all of your appendages attached to your body." To emphasize the last part Garrus tightened his grip painfully and then shoved the human back a bit, watching in slight amusement as the man stumbled and then ran off through the throng of moving bodies. Good. Except now he had to deal with the possibly angry mutant woman behind him which could end up with him getting injured. As he turned around to face her wrath though he was surprised to see Fay looking not angry or irritated, but ashamed and embarrassed; an obvious blush covering her cheeks and her eyes downcast.

"Hey, are you okay?" He had to speak up slightly because of the music and everybody talking around them, but Garrus saw her ears twitch as she picked up on his voice.

"Yeah...I'm fine. Thanks for you know...throwing that guy...I could've handled it though. But I appreciate it." With her alcohol buzz now dying down from the commotion and the fun gone FayLynn went to walk off the dance floor, not wanting to stand around like a fool for no reason. She walked about two steps before a taloned hand shot out and stopped her by wrapping around her wrist, though very lightly. Emerald eyes looked over to the Turian that the hand belonged to, analyzing him as he cleared his throat and let go before speaking.

"Why don't we, um...you don't have to leave yet. We could...you know...dance. If you want." Spirits strike him down now! He couldn't be stuttering any worse even if he didn't have a tongue. Fortunately for Garrus Fay wasn't the stuck-up type to care about that. Her lips turned up into a smile which then turned into a grin as she moved to stand before her friend, looking up slightly because of the height difference.

"Okay, but if we're going to dance, we're going to have fun with it." And just as she said this FayLynn spotted Ava working her way around the dance floor with more shots on her tray. Not wanting to miss the opportunity the woman waved the waitress over and quickly downed two before taking some from the other side, making sure they were dextro safe before handing Garrus his own two. So, this is what she meant by fun.

"Down the hatch. Don't worry, I asked her if they were dextro safe before taking them. She separates them. Smart woman." The Turian nodded in response and poured the first one down his throat, eyes squinting at the bitter taste of the alcohol, and then stared down into the second; swirling the drink around a bit. Nothing bad ever came from a couple drinks and dancing with some friends, right? He then shrugged and threw it back without a second though, tossing the small cup off somewhere and letting the effects of the drinks take him over.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Yay, new chapter! Sorry for the delay but here it is. Please leave a review if you did or did not enjoy it, I love reading them! I do not own anything Mass Effect, that's Bioware.  
**_

* * *

The planet Feros could easily be described as the planet of ancient wonder. This was attributed to the fact that it was home to one of the largest and most intact Prothean megalopolis's in the Attican Beta cluster. It was also home to a human colony funded by the ExoGeni Corporation. They hoped to make a permanent settlement and use its settlers to further explore the ruins around them; thus, hopefully providing more information and artifacts of the lost Protheans. The colony was built amongst the upper levels of several very well intact skyscrapers, and the colonists used the aqueducts and made rooftop hydroponic gardens to sustain themselves; all in all, it was a very productive operation. One that was about to be disrupted and torn apart by a very dark, very troublesome obstacle that could destroy the entire colony. Saren.

The Turian had managed to get out to the lone colony without hardly any disruptions from pirates, what with Sovereign easily destroying them, and no sign of that despicable Commander. Shepard. Just thinking of the human specter made his blood boil and his talons dig into his palm as he walked, flanked by his geth troops. His mandibles were held tight against his face in anger and a growl was present in Saren's face as he strode through the crumbling halls. "This disgusting ruin had better be worth as much as you say **Shiala** , your life may depend on it."

The purple Asari in question bowed her head and looked at the Turians back with a hard stare. If not for Matriarch Benezia she wouldn't even be here; whether that was a good or bad thing though she did not know yet. "My source is solid sir, I assure you. The secret under the colony of Feros will give you the edge you require to reach the Conduit and stop Commander Shepard once and for all. Trust me."

"As you wish, but I must warn you. Be careful what you wish for." Upon saying this the gray Turian spun around and stared at Shiala intensely, something sinister lurking behind his electric blue eyes. Had they always had those odd spots of silver in them? They almost looked... robotic. Shaking off the underlying feeling of dread, the Asari met her leaders stare with certainty and waited until he had turned back around, walking without another word until they had reached the entrance way to the heart of the colony. Before going any closer Saren ordered the geth that had been walking with them to fan out and stay hidden until signaled so as not to set off alarms with the colony. No need to spook them just yet. After watching the synthetics slink off the two aliens finally came within sight of the colony. It was being guarded by two humans, one male and one female, holding heavy assault rifles. Funny how they thought that would stop him if it came to that.

They raised their weapons as he and Shiala moved closer and the male raised his voice slightly, trying to push out his authority. "Stop. We haven't had any reports of visitors. Who are you?"

"Please do not be alarmed. I am Saren, a council specter here to do a check in of the colony to make sure all is well." His voice was sure and steady as he lied to both of the guards without missing a beat. They looked at one another, unsure, for a moment before the woman held a hand up to activate her comm link and radio their leader, Fai Dan.

"Says he's a specter. Yeah, okay." With a slightly begrudging look she stepped off to the side as did her comrade, both gesturing for Saren and Shiala to proceed. The Turian didn't hesitate to goad them a little more.

"Thank you, it's been a pleasure." He looked at them both pointedly before striding through the entrance way and into the heart of the camp, looking around for the contact that he and his Asari follower were supposed to meet. As he scanned the clearing, pausing momentarily when he would spot a human looking at him. So funny it was that these wretched fools had no idea that their pitiful way of life was in imminent danger. They would remain ignorant until the day of their demise.

After reaching the end of the designated path Saren spotted a blond haired human woman waiting for them, arms behind her back. She nodded to each of them in greeting as they approached. "Shiala, Saren. I apologize for the holdup, but the guards had not been made aware of your arrival. I presume you have the credits?"

"Ah yes, your payment. Forgive me if I seem a little cautious, but I would like to see the package before handing over such a large sum." Saren had brought a sharp taloned hand up to his face and was tapping his mandible in thought. His sharp eyes glanced over to Shiala momentarily, their eyes meeting and conveying an unspoken message, before moving back to the human. She had pulled out a large schematic and data pad that had the words 'ExoGeni Corporation' labeled along the side. On the schematic was a layout of the underground passages near the colony Zhu's Hope, and the data pad had multiple pages of information on something called 'Species 37'. Excellent. Now it was time for the fun to start. With a predatory smile, Saren handed both objects over to Shiala and then hit a communicator button on his weapon belt. At the time it seemed like nothing, but what it was doing was signaling the geth ships to move in and take over the colony.

"Much appreciated. Here is your payment." The woman's omni-tool lit up as credits transferred to it, but then she narrowed her eyes and her mouth pulled into a frown at seeing the amount.

"Hey, this is only half of what you promised! You had better pay up full or else-" Her sentence was cut short as suddenly the ground below them shook violently and explosions were heard in the distance. These were also accompanied by several screams of terror.

"Geth! There are geth infiltrating the towers and the sky ways! All soldiers grab your weapons and hold them back from the colony!" Sirens began to blare loudly and red lights flashed to signal an alarm and creating panic all around, but Saren merely took this as an opportunity to get where he needed to go seeing as the blond-haired woman had already fled the scene.

"Come Shiala. It is time to enact our plan and gather the required information to reach the Conduit. Soon, very soon, everything will begin to fall in to place. And then not even the famous Commander Shepard will be able to stop me!"

Silence. Only one word had to be used to describe the crew quarters on the Normandy, and by crew quarters that meant the mess and the sleeper pod area. About half the pods were full of passed out crew members and then there were a few others sitting at the table, groaning, drinking coffee and popping hangover medication like it was candy. The night before, some of the intergalactic ship's crew went out to Flux for a free night and some drinks to take the edge off. Relax before going full throttle after Saren. Some of the people that went had been smart and only had a few drinks whilst occupying the rest of their time with conversation. The others were not as intelligent, nor as lucky with the outcome of their decision.

The low lighting of the mess shined slightly off the sweaty face of one very pale, very nauseous looking Lieutenant Alenko as he tried to ward off the oncoming urge to vomit. "Please no more. Whatever god can hear me, I won't ever drink again if I can just stop throwing up." His voice was devoid of energy and begging. A hunched over form across from him chuckled slightly, and then quickly regretted the action as it caused a wave of pain to wash through their body. Kaidan noticed this and gave a pain filled smirk.

"Don't be too quick to laugh Williams. Last I checked you weren't looking so hot yourself." A sigh answered him before her words did.

"Screw you Alenko. Why don't you go kiss Shepard's ass or something?" Even though she tried to put bite behind her words, Ashley just didn't have it in her. Instead the words came out half mumbled and slightly distoreted.

"Was that an order ma'am?"

"Just a friendly suggestion." A small chuckled sounded out from the Lieutenant and he took another sip of coffee, letting the now warm liquid run down his throat and push back a bit of his nausea. Nothing was worth feeling this shitty whilst chasing down a rogue specter, not even a night of quote on quote 'relaxing'. Though he had been able to talk with Shepard without the awkwardness of being on the ship and had learned just a little more about her. She had been born in the confines of a space station called Nineveh to her mother Hannah Shepard and her father; though she hadn't given his name, and Kaidan hadn't pushed her on the subject. Most of her life had been spent moving from ship to ship and station to station until she had finally enlisted, then been accepted in to the N7 program, and then eventually assigned to the Normandy with Captain Anderson.

"I think you're starting to drool a little bit Kaidan. Are you imagining Shepard wearing nothing but her omni-tool again?" As FayLynn entered the mess hall, her entrance enhanced with her boisterous sentence, she noted how Kaidan blushed slightly but continued to sip his coffee. Eyeing her a bit spitefully if such a thing was possible. He then pulled his eyebrows down in confusion at hearing and seeing the woman acting as if she hadn't touched a single drop of alcohol the night before.

"How is it that you're not completely dead inside like the rest of us? If I recall correctly you drank just as much, if not more, than everybody else." Yes. He was indeed spiteful. This made Fay give a lopsided grin in response as she sat next to him with her own drink. The scent of a aromatic herbal tea wafting into her face instead of coffee. The after taste of the popular beverage always made her cringe.

"My body process alcohol and the like much faster. Same goes for poison. I even eradicate virus's and foreign bacteria in a shorter amount of time than the average human." She took a sip of her tea after saying that to emphasize and closed her eyes at the taste. Chamomile with honey. Kaidan grunted at her answer and finished off his coffee, looking over to Ashley whom was now snoring softly and wishing that he could fall asleep right now. Unfortunately, that idea was pushed even further away as a piercing chirp/meow sounded out through the room followed by Sterling hopping up onto FayLynn's lap. The attention hogging Nalpa had adjusted to ship life quickly and had constantly been seen keeping Chakwas company or annoying Joker in the cockpit the past night.

As she scratched behind Sterling's feathered ears, Fay read over the data pad that had multiple pages of information on the next planet they were headed to. Somewhere she had never heard of called Feros. Apparently, there was a colony there, Zhu's Hope, that was funded by a human run scientist corporation called ExoGeni. They were excavating the Prothean ruins there and trying to rebuild what was already there. It seemed like an interesting find, but why did Saren go there? Was there information on the Conduit that was hidden amongst the ruins? So many questions would go unanswered until they arrived. With a sigh, she continued to pet her Nalpa and drink her tea; that was, until she heard the Commander's voice sound out over the intercom loud and clear. The noise made a few people groan and hold their head, but they looked up as well.

" **We're making a stop before Feros to help negotiate the release of one of the top biotic amp overseers, Chairman Burns. He had been captured by a group of biotic fanatics and are threatening to kill him because of an L2 reparation vote. Alenko and T'Soni, I need you both suited up; meet me at the airlock in ten.** " And with that the intercom cut out, signaling the end of what the Commander had to say. Fay looked over to see Kaidan rub his temples momentarily before standing, pushing back his chair as he did so and allowing the feet to scrape the floor, and head towards the elevator to go to his locker and put his armor on. Seeing the sad scene nearly made her feel bad for the guy.

"You good Kaidan?"

"Not really, but I'm not going to bail on a mission just because I feel a bit hungover. Duty calls." As he said this with a shrug, the door to the elevator opened revealing Garrus. The Turian had been on his way up to return FayLynn's rifle polish and to get some more water; he had also consumed a little too much the night before and felt dehydrated with a slight hangover as an after effect. Kaidan nodded to him as they passed one another, practically switching places, and kept a neutral expression on as the elevator door closed once more.

"Sterling no! Bad Nalpa, give that back!" A resounding crash sounded out from the mess and Garrus rounded the corner just in time to see Fay yelling at her pet as he hopped across the table, bounding over to where the sleeping pods were. He then proceeded to hop up on top of one and perch on it smugly. Whilst all this had been happening Fay's chair had given way beneath her as she leaned back in an effort to grab Sterling and she was now lying flat on her back, groaning in pain along with Ashley whom had been woken up. Garrus walked over and looked down at his friend with an eye ridge raised in slight amusement, not being able to help notice how her cheeks were red with embarrassment.

"I see you're having fun."

"Yes, so much. Would you please help me get that pin away from Sterling?" As she said this FayLynn blew a stray piece of hair away from her face, taking Garrus's outstretched hand as he helped her up before walking over to look at the troublesome feline-type creature. Steele colored eyes stared at four large orange ones, noting how his tail flicked from side to side playfully and sharp canines gripped onto the pin that he had taken from his owner. The Turian wasn't much of an animal person, but he would try his best to sound as persuasive as possible.

"C'mon now Sterling, hand it over." An indignant **mrrrow** answered the Turian and the Nalpa set the pin down between his paws, lazily glancing over at his owner as she walked up to stand beside Garrus. Her arms crossing in irritation. "He's purposefully being a little ass!"

"You do know you raised him that way, right? And is Williams okay?" Garrus kept his eyes trained on Sterling as he said this. It was as if he and the Nalpa were having a show of nerve, trying to see who would cave first.

"Yeah, I know. And maybe? She kind of threw up in the trash can before stumbling over to the Med-bay after I had shouted at Sterling." Fay smiled sheepishly and simultaneously tried to swipe the pin as she jumped, but the Nalpa saw her coming and backed up even more, making her growl in frustration. "Rrrgh. Pleassse Sterling, give that back. Mommy needs that." Sterling was now focused on his owner as she spoke and didn't see Garrus sneaking closer, eyes honed in on the metal pin that was now released from its prison.

"Just a little closer... gotcha!" The Turian quickly snatched the object away from the Nalpa just as the animal realized what was happening, but by then Garrus was already too far away to swipe at. Fay smirked and chastised the now seething animal, her tone good natured. "Now you can think about what you've done you bad boy! And if you give anybody else a problem then there will be no fish with dinner, understand?" A somewhat defeated sigh was heard from the Nalpa, but she took that as a good sign and Fay smiled at Garrus as she held out her hand.

"Thanks Garrus. He's such a pain sometimes, but I can't help but love him for it." Nothing but affection and love laced her words, the sound making the Turians heart swell.

"You got that right. Hey, where did you get his from anyways?" As he asked his question, Garrus was inspecting the symbol on the pin he currently held. Eyes focused intently and ridges pulled down in thought. Even though her heart had quickened at his question, FayLynn tried not to let her nerves show.

"Oh, I found it on the Citadel during one of my patrols. I was gonna toss it, but for some reason it seemed familiar. So I kept it." The agent shrugged as she said this, ears flicking, and she moved a bit closer to look at the pin in her friends hand. When he spoke again his voice had a hard edge to it, and his shoulders tensed up.

"It's a Cerberus insignia Fay. They're a pro-human terrorist cell group that are focused solely on the survival of humanity."

"Cerberus? Why haven't I heard of them?" She took the pin from his hand and rubbed her thumb over the symbol, frowning deeply and wondering why such a thing was on the Citadel. Cerberus sounded awful.

"Because the council wants everything about them to be kept quiet. I've only seen their name pass my desk a few times, and that was only because that bastard Dr. Saleon was working for them." The disgust was now clear as Garrus spoke, eyes following the pin with a scary intensity.

"But I thought you said they were pro-human?"

"They are, but he had been helping them with experiments and proved to be an invaluable resource when he had figured out how to clone organs to sell. What I want to know is why that pin was on the Citadel, and why you still have it." Anger was now evident in her friend's voice as he spoke. His eyes were accusatory as he now looked at FayLynn and his tone said that he demanded an answer. At noticing this Fay's temper flared up at suddenly being questioned like she was working with them, with this Cerberus group. How was she supposed to have known all of this?

"Hey! Don't you dare act like I would team up with these...terrorists! How could you even insinuate that?!"

"I... look, I'm sorry. It's not that I think you're involved with them, I just don't see how this would get on the Citadel or why it would be there. And thinking about Dr. Saleon...well it really strikes a nerve in me." The anger was now gone and replaced with simple frustration, though Fay could tell that it was slightly subdued. She knew how much Saleon's case had meant, and when that slippery Salarian bastard got away it was infuriating.

"I know Garrus, and I'm just as confused as you are. And as for why I still have it... I don't know. It's like there's something familiar about it. I just can't get rid of it yet...not until I figure out why I feel like this." Her voice was pleading as she spoke and her emerald eyes begged him to understand why she had to keep it. The softhearted Turian sighed and nodded, understanding what it felt like to want to figure something out just for the personal benefit and peace of mind.

"It's alright I understand. And for what it's worth, I hope you figure it out. I'm going to grab some water and head back down to the Mako to finish calibrating the weapons systems on it. I'll see you later." His voice was now calm and slightly worn out because the headache he now had. After grabbing a water from the fridge Garrus walked back to the elevator, giving Fay one last nod, and headed back to the Cargo Bay for some much-needed silence. And as she was left alone in the silence of the Mess now, FayLynn couldn't help but clutch onto the metal pin in her hand; hoping that whatever secrets it held were worth knowing.

Red. That was all she could see around her. It covered the walls and coated the floors. It stained her hands and ran down in rivulets off her face that she now figured out was splattered in blood, some of the liquids coppery taste hitting her mouth. Emerald eyes were wide with terror as they looked around the room and saw bloodied bodies piled up near the far wall, limbs torn and deep claw marks all over their faces. A voice sounded out from a speaker in the top corner of the room and made her jump.

"Well done F-26. Seems like you're more complacent with our orders when you're a little hungry, hmm?"

"What? What do you mean? Who's F-26?! What are you doing to me! **Let me out**!" As her mind struggled to make sense of what was happening around her, FayLynn felt her body stretch and change, shifting into her weaponized form of an alien animal. It had been so long since fear had triggered a change. Her teeth grew into fangs and claws sprouted from her now fur covered paws; they dug in to the metal of the wall as she tried to escape the massacre she was trapped near. As her panic continued to grow by the second, the voice spoke up once more over the speaker.

"I need heavy sedation for F-26 in cell C12 immediately. She's panicking." The voice over the speaker was fully of authority, but calm throughout the whole ordeal. How could they be so calm with so much death around?

Fay felt her body tense and spin around reflexively as the metal door to the cell quickly opened and revealed two guard type people, each one equipped with a long metal pole that had thick loop protrudin from the end. She couldn't tell what the loops were made out of, but they looked strong. And it became even worse when they both hit a button on the poles and caused the loops on the end to surge with a strong electrical current; something told her she didn't want to be caught with those. As they approached her the guards spoke low and menacing. Nothing in their voices did anything to calm her frayed nerves.

"Here kitty kitty kitty. It's time for a little nap now, and if you're real good we won't have to use these." The gleam of a needle appeared as one of the guards reached into their pocket. The syringe was full of a purple fluid that she assumed would knock her out for spirits knows how long, letting whoever these people were do whatever they wanted to her body. No, she wouldn't let them. With her hair now standing on end she tried to back away from them even further, being mindful still of the bodies piled up nearby.

" **Get away from me**!" She lashed out and her words came out as a powerful roar that made the guards pause for a moment, looking to one another, before advancing once more. They weren't going to stop. She had to run. Waiting until they were no more than two feet away FayLynn lunged at them, feeling a twinge of satisfaction as they yelped, and made a break for the door. Unfortunately, it was locked, but she didn't stop. Her body slammed forcefully in to the metal of the door without mercy and ignored the pain that flared up in her shoulder. She hit it again with more force, this time feeling the door cave slightly and begin to buckle under the pressure.

"She's trying to break out! Restrain her now!" As the voice over the speaker yelled in her ear while she continued to pummel the door, all the mutated woman could think of was breaking free. But that was cleared from her head as one of the guards must have gotten one of their pole loops around her neck. In the seconds after that all she felt was a immense and burning pain that made her screech before blacking out completely. That was when FayLynn woke up.

It hadn't been as bad as her past nightmares no, but it was just as vivid and horrible that was for sure. Slightly sweating she took a deep breath and stretched out on the support beam she had been sleeping on, being careful not to roll off, and let her arm dangle over the side. She had taken to sleeping up on this particular beam near the crew quarters seeing as she couldn't stand the sleeping pods. At first Shepard had been irritated because Fay had jumped down and scared the Commander a few days previous, but after the initial shock had worn off she didn't really care. So long as her team was well rested and ready for combat they could sleep where they deemed fit. And now, as she stared up at the gray metal of the ceiling, FayLynn couldn't help but be grateful for Shepard's patience and acceptance.

Her whole life had been a struggle to figure out where she really fit in, which was nowhere, and find out who she was. She couldn't remember half of her life that she had lived or where she had even come from. Maybe she had parents or maybe they were dead; same goes for siblings. Everything about her was a mystery besides her name, age and short C-sec track record as an agent. It wasn't much to live by. Were there two people looking for their lost child? Had she been ripped from her mother's arms or simply taken in the night without anybody noticing? How long had she been tortured...? trained... taught to be a monster and a killer by nature until she ripped free of the prison that once held her? And the memories of that place, so many times she had tried to think about and remember it, but the images were always blurry and unfocused. She could barely remember where she had ended up after escaping let alone where she had been. One day FayLynn would find the answers to her questions, whether they were pretty or not, and she could finally be at peace with what she has become.

A long, drawn out sigh escaped from the confines of her body, and the now restless agent decided that she might as well find something productive to do. Better than dwelling on the past. It had been a few hours since the Commander had returned from her mission successful, having convinced the biotics to let the hostage go with the help of Kaidan, and they were now headed to Feros. In fact, they should be arriving soon. With this thought in mind she made her way to the cockpit to help out with navigation and chat with Joker, seeing as he always complained about flying the ship alone; though everybody knew he liked it better that way.

"Ah, FayLynn! I've been meaning to find you." A timid voice caught her attention before she could ascend up the steps and she turned around, tail swishing and flicking as she did so as she saw who had called out.

"Tali, hi. Is everything alright?" Fay's ears twitched and lay back slightly as the quarian approached her with a slightly worried tone. Seemed like she was... nervous maybe. But when the mutant questioned the fidgeting woman Tali held up her hands and tried to put her worries to rest.

"Oh yes everything is fine I assure you. I was actually wondering if you wouldn't mind sitting down to talk with me later; I'm keeping a log of my experiences and the crew while on the Normandy and I'd like to know more about you as a person." The Quarian's nervous tone turned in to a more excited one upon getting to the point, but FayLynn still couldn't help but grimace internally. Anytime anybody had ever wanted to 'know more about her', they just ended up asking about what happened to her while she had been working with the mysterious corporation that had mutated her. She tried not to sound spiteful as she answered, though it may have still sounded rough.

"Me, or my looks? I appreciate the fact that you're getting informed Tali, but usually people are just more interested in-"

"How you look?" Tali finished Fay's sentence with a bit of a bittersweet sounding chuckle. If anybody knew how it felt to be judged because of looks and not who you really were, it was she. "Don't worry Fay, I get it. Everybody always sees the suit before they really see me; they see a scavenging Quarian who doesn't fit in with the flow of society."

Guilt surged through the human at hearing the sadness in the other woman's voice as she spoke of the harsh reality of acceptance. She hadn't thought about how hard it was for the Quarians to go about life like everybody else. "No Tali I didn't... I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to act so insensitive."

"I know, it's okay. I just want to reassure you that my motives are not clouded by how you appear on the outside. This is about knowing who I am actually going in to battle with; the real you." Nothing but honesty and sincerity could be heard from the Quarian's voice as she spoke and it made FayLynn's heart flutter with emotion. She struggled to not let her voice shake as she replied, a smile on her face.

"That sounds... great. It really does Tali. But does it have to be later? Would you want to talk now?"

"Oh no I don't want to interrupt what you're doing, it looked like you were about to go somewhere."

"Please don't worry about it, it wasn't important at all. Let's go to the comm room. The Commander said that we are allowed to use it when she isn't, and it won't be until after we go to Feros that she'll have to contact the Council." As she said this Fay grasped Tali's hand lightly with a friendly gleam in her eyes and pulled her towards the room she spoke of. Never before had she been so, excited wasn't the right word, maybe anxious? Yes. She was anxious, but willing to speak about what she knew of her life to this Quarian that she had come to know and appreciate.

Upon arriving to the comm room FayLynn let go of her charges hand and thought on where she wanted to sit for a moment before choosing a chair near the steps. The position allowed her to see the door in case anybody would walk in. Tali followed suit and sat next to her silently, taking a minute to set her omni-tool to record their conversation and catalog it when they finished. She then looked at the human before her with glowing eyes only visible through her helmets mask, analyzing the slightly closed look she now had.

"Well, I suppose I should start with your early life yes? Where were you born?"

The first question hit Fay in the chest with a bit more force than she had expected. Yes, she had come to the reality that she knew nothing of her birth origins and where she was from, but along the way she had found out a few more things via digging through every Alliance data base. "I uh, I don't know where I was born actually, but I do know that I was found on Noveria when I was seventeen years of age."

"Found?" Confusion laced through the Quarian's voice as Fay nodded in confirmation, not showing an ounce of emotion now.

"Yes, found. I had defected from a previous employer apparently and had managed to evade being found after I had stolen one of their shuttles. It's hard for me to remember that though, thinking about it just gives me blurry images and flashes of snow. I guess the shuttle had been damaged though, so I ended up crash landing on Noveria, survived, and was later found by travelers on their way to the Peak 15 research facility. I was then transported to Earth when no record of me was found besides what I had managed to swipe from the facility I had left. All I had was my age, name and 'special skills'." Fay couldn't remember most of her escape, but as she thought about it flashes of a blizzard appeared in her mind. She had been cold, shivering and injured from the crash with no medigel to use; death seemed imminent. But then those scientists had found her and saved her life, then they had figured out what she was. A wave of betrayal surged through her body and made her fists clench tightly before she remembered where she currently was and who she was with. Now was not the time to get in to that whole experience.

Meanwhile Tali was shocked that she had been dumped on Earth without a second thought. "They just... put you on Earth? What about your parents? What about your life?"

"As far as I'm concerned I never had either. Nobody ever came forward to claim me so I just did what I could to take care of myself. I stayed at a shelter for a while and got a job delivering supplies to outposts, nothing crazy, just something to keep me on my feet. Eventually I got tired of being nothing so I saved up for a while and went to the Citadel. Signed up for C-sec Academy at the age of 20."

"Hmmm, interesting. I'm sorry you were left like that."

"Don't be. Everybody goes through hardships in life. That was mine." FayLynn breathed in deeply and let her tense body relax slightly. At the time, this had seemed like something good. Somebody wanted to find out more about who she was, but now? Now it was hell even thinking about life back on Earth and at the Academy. And realizing that she couldn't remember a lick of time during her days as an experiment bother her as well.

"Agreed. Now, you trained at the C-sec Academy for two years correct?"

"Yep."

"Is that where you met Garrus?" Tali leaned forwards as she said this, trying to see if there was any indication of embarrassment on the other woman's face as she did so. There was none. At least not on the outside.

"It was yes. About halfway in to our first year. Things were a little rough for me since most of the trainees at the time were Turian and Asari, but I had never expected to be jumped. Lucky for me when that did happen Garrus had been on his way to the gym, where I had been cornered, and stopped them. It had been a group of Turians that did it actually, so their punches packed a little more heat than most. He then helped me up after warding them off and introduced himself, telling me that he knew of me as the best hand-to-hand fighter besides himself...he had remembered me because of my skills. Not because of my differences from everybody else. After that we began training together, hanging out and became friends." 'And I fell for him'. The last part was said spoken inside of Fay's mind so nobody other than she heard it, but for some reason she felt her features soften.

"Tali."

"Hm?" The quarian had been fidgeting with her omni-tool after FayLynn had stopped speaking, giving her a moment to gather her thoughts. So, when she heard her name called she jumped a little in her chair, surprised.

"I...never mind. Um, I need to go and set up my gear and weapons before we hit Feros. Thanks for talking with me... I enjoyed it." FayLynn had wanted to say more about what had happened on Earth, but some things were better left unsaid for now. Maybe when things settled down more they could go somewhere more private and talk like good friends would.

Tali stuttered a bit, thinking that she had said something wrong, but was comforted a bit when Fay pulled her in for a hug and held her tight. The gesture was warm and full of affection, and as the Quarian returned it she could have sworn she heard a sniffle. But she chose not to acknowledge that part. Sometimes it was better to just let things be as they are. The moment ended as soon as it started, though its warm mark was still left on both women, and they parted ways in a state of mutual understanding. Each one feeling like they knew the other better than they had before and had taken a step further into understanding.


	12. Chapter 12

_**New chapter yayyyy! I actually really enjoy writing this because I get to go back and go over one of my favorite games. Let me know if everything is going okay and please review, good or bad I love reading them!**_

* * *

Commander Shepard stood tall and tense as she waited for her team to file into the comm room and take their seats. The Normandy had just docked at the Feros colony, so now she had to figure out who she was going to take along with her to investigate. As far as rotating out her squad Shepard tried to keep it fair, but there were times when she needed specific skills that adapted well to the mission. With Feros though she really had no idea what they were going to find. If she wanted to go with her instincts she would point towards geth considering that was who allied themselves with Saren, and there had also been some signals of geth activity in the area. With that in mind it may be better to bring along at least one tech expert so that they could have the upper hand, then back it all up with some extra fire power. Tali and Wrex would be a good fit.

"Shepard?"

"Yes?" The captain of the Normandy looked up from her musings to see that all members of her team were now seated and awaiting instructions. Perhaps she should be a bit more observant. Shaking off any initial tension Shepard crossed her arms and debriefed everyone on what they were up against.

"Alright everybody, we've gotten reports of possible geth activity and are looking to face some heavy resistance by the sound of the transmission we just received. Now I know everybody is itching to get out there and give Saren hell, but I'm going to need some tech help and a heavy hitter for this mission. Wrex, Tali, suit up; you're going to go with me to the colony. The rest of you are going to be stationed to guard the entrance to the docking bay and the Normandy itself in case anything goes awry. Any questions?" She always asked if any of her crew objected, but the tone of her voice suggested that they simply go with what she said and be done with it. The last time Ashley tried to get mouthy over Liara the whole room thought the Commander was going to light the Gunnery Chief on fire with just a glare.

After hearing no responses Shepard nodded stiffly and looked at Ashley with trust. "Williams, you and Daye are going to be guarding the colony entrance. Anyone is allowed to leave but make sure you at least check the surrounding area for them first. If you encounter a problem in which you need back-up radio your other team members, understood?"

"Actually ma'am, wouldn't it be better to have Kaidan and myself stationed at the colony? We should be putting the stronger biotic to guard the people right?"

"You calling me weak Williams?" FayLynn flattened her ears against her head in irritation and hissed out the words as she narrowed her eyes, not appreciating what the other woman had said.

"No, Kaidan just has more experience with using his powers is all I'm saying."

"What I think you're saying is that you don't want me to help you because you don't think I can do it. For your information I'm just as strong as Kaidan **and** Liara!"

"Bull! No way you're stronger than an Asari! They're born with freaking biotics!" The Gunnery Chief was now leaning forwards in her seat and was honed in on the agent sitting across from her. Hostility radiated from every pore in her body and she fought the urge to run at the other woman. Meanwhile Fay was leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed as she fought to lunge at Ashley with teeth bared and claws extended; she could feel them already growing and poking her side.

"Just listen to the Commander and deal with it! You're stuck with me whether you like it or not."

"Like hel-"

"Enough!" The one word was enough to shut both women up as it rang throughout the room with authority and power. Shepard was glaring at both team members, her blue eyes dark, and uncrossed her arms as she walked forwards a bit; pointing at each one in turn as she spoke. "I don't know what you two have against one another, but it stops here! You will both put aside this petty anger for one another or you're endangering this whole mission, in which case I will be forced to leave both of you on the Normandy! Am I clear!"

"Yes Commander." Both Ashley and FayLynn looked down as they answered, red slightly staining their cheeks in embarrassment and chagrin at having to be told by their Commander to stop arguing like teenagers.

"Now, crew dismissed!" At hearing Shepard pretty much tell them to get ready the team filed out of the comm room and headed to their lockers to gear up. Wrex was pretty much always ready so he just had to grab his shotgun and Tali did the same; except she grabbed a few extra immune-boosters and suit seals before following the krogan to the elevator. As the doors shut and the two of them disappeared from sight, Fay sighed heavily and went about checking the clips on both her carnifex and her widow sniper rifle. She ran her hands over her weapons slowly in thought to try and get over the fact that she was stuck with Ashley, but considering the Gunnery Chief was no more than a few feet away the task was rendered useless.

Maybe she was overreacting though. It wasn't like she had been making a bad point after all because Alenko did in fact have more training than FayLynn did, but being undermined was something that the agent would not tolerate. Fay would prove to Williams that she belonged here just as much as the other woman did. Her resolve was steadfast and her face determined as she went in to the changing stall to get in to her bodysuit, grimacing as it snapped into place, and then marched out and began fastening on pieces of her armor. She started with her boots, sliding them on and stomping lightly a few times to get them into a comfortable place. The mesh hugged her calf comfortably and linked up with the upper thigh portion of armor. Next she moved on to the chest plate. She lifted the front of the chest plate up and pressed it against her body, fastening the clasps up at the top and bottom before moving to grab the back. But as the mutant woman tried to fasten the top one of the latches seemed to not want to clasp.

Grunting as she tried to undo the now stuck clasp FayLynn called out to the biotic man next to her. "Kaidan, could you help me with this? One of my clasps are stuck and I can't seem to get it."

"Yeah no problem." He smiled in a friendly manner and secured his own weapons before walking over to stand behind the woman whom was now pulling her arm guards on. At least she could get other pieces on while she waited for the back to get fixed. As Kaidan worked at the latches, trying not to pull her hair in the process, he commented on the type of armor she wore.

"Armax Arsenal huh? I heard they made some pretty good armor."

"They do. I've had the chest plate modified to give me extra shield power, and my arm guards carry extra ammo and the like. Plus I liked the colors they had available. This set was called 'winter solstice'."

"Classy." The Lieutenant chuckled as he said that and finished fastening Fay's armor, noting how seamless all the pieces seemed to fit together. She even had armor for her tail; this of course peaked his interest so he had to ask. "Hey Daye, if you don't mind me asking...why armor your tail."

She looked at the appendage for a moment and then smirked slightly at his question, amused by it. "Well it's like any other part of me like my arms or my legs. I also don't want it to be exposed to the elements. And it does this." Fay hit a button on her omni-tool and grinned when multiple spikes of varying lengths appeared from the armored end of her tail. Meanwhile Kaidan couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"You use it to fight? I didn't think it was that strong to be honest."

"Normally a tail like this wouldn't be, but I was modified with...specific purposes in mind. So every base was covered such as a strong tail that I could whip around and grab enemies if necessary. I also have regenerative properties to speed up the healing process, cybernetics in my eyes to enhance my vision and a reinforced bone structure so that I can withstand tremendous impacts without breaking anything. I'm not invincible, but I can match up to a krogan without a problem."

"Impressive." Alenko had crossed his arms and was staring at FayLynn with raised brows as she slipped her combat hood over her ears, partially concealing her face and its features; leaving only her smirking mouth visible.

"I suppose if fancy upgrades are your thing, but I would prefer to rely on my own strength." Flicking her tail towards him for emphasis as she turned, the mutant woman walked to where Gunnery Chief Williams was semi-patiently waiting for her arrival. Though the look on her face said otherwise.

"Have fun teasing Lt?"

"Yup. Poor guy, it's a little depressing that he likes the Commander." Fay sighed sadly as the elevator doors closed and began its slow ascent. She knew what it felt like to have feelings for somebody, but also having 101 regulations telling you why you couldn't be with them. Especially now that they were on the Normandy. But Ashley made the agent look over towards her in surprise when she began to defend Kaidan's feelings towards their Commanding officer.

"My mother always said that regulations couldn't stop loves natural pull."

"So you're saying their in love?"

"Not yet, but it's obvious that they feel something for each other. And no matter how principled either of them are rules against fraternization aren't going to stop them." As Ashley finished her sentence she exited the now stopped elevator and proceeded to walk to the stairs and up to the observatory deck, throwing a glance over her shoulder to make sure Fay was following.

"Huh." Agent Daye was by no means poetic or subtle, but for some reason she couldn't help but feel that there was deeper meaning behind what the Gunnery Chief had said. Up until now it had seemed as if the woman lived, breathed and ate military like it was nothing. Seemed like everybody had a hidden side that wasn't well known. Though Fay would admit that she had suspected Williams for being into poetry after seeing a few books on the subject in her footlocker. With her vibrant green eyes trained on the white and pink armored back of her teammate, the agent couldn't help but hum in approval; it was good to see that while still part of a large collective the soldiers in the Alliance still had a mind of their own. Perhaps after this was all over she would think about looking in to a different line of work besides C-sec.

* * *

"It's been over an hour without any radio contact from Shepard. Shouldn't we go see what the hell is going on?"

"We were told to stay at this post and stop the geth from attacking the colony further. We've already taken out a whole squadron so more can't be far behind."

"But what about-"

"We're staying here!" Ashley Williams whipped around and glared at the slightly glowing mutant, not wavering in her resolve to obey her Commanders orders no matter how much she wanted to agree with the biotic beside her. The Gunnery Chief had always followed and respected the rule of completing the mission for the greater good and saving high priority subjects, in this case Shepard, but she also knew that the Commander could take care of herself. And now, staring at the slightly agitated woman beside her Ashley sighed and shouldered her rifle, keeping her senses alert in case more geth approached.

"Look, I want to help Shepard as much as you do Daye, but sometimes there's a reason why we're told to stay somewhere. We've already stopped geth from reaching the colony so who's too say there won't be more? It's up to us to hold the line here and show our Commander that we have what it takes." As she finished her sentence Ashley could see reason enter FayLynn's stare, her snarl turning into a mild frown, and the biotics stance relaxed.

"Yeah sure. I just don't like how this is going...something isn't right. The colonist's, they smell...off."

Williams raised a brow in question and snorted slightly. "They **smell** off?"

"Yes. My sense of smell is extremely heightened and allows me to pick up scents of poison, sickness, etc. The colonist's here don't smell like humans usually do though; they have a heavy scent of plant." Fay sniffed again, but whether or not it was to double check or just emphasize Ashley couldn't tell.

"I mean they probably just have plants here and that's what you're smelling."

"No it's not and no they don't. There doesn't seem to be much, if any plant life right in the colony and the few fines we saw wouldn't have had this smell. Maybe we should-" But just as she was about to suggest checking in on the colonist's, both Fay and Ashley's comms crackled to life and Shepard's voice caught both the soldiers attention immediately.

"Come in Team Firewall, Team Firewall do you read!"

"This is Team Firewall responding! We lost you there for a while Commander, what's going on?" Ashley kept her composure, but FayLynn could read the fear in her eyes. It must be hard for her to keep cool after losing her entire team on Eden Prime. Fay refocused on her comm as Shepard responded.

"We just took down a geth ship that had been attached to the side of the building. It had been scrambling our comm link signals, but now we're headed back to a group of Exo-Geni scientists that we found to let them know. They also have a bit of explaining to do about a file we found on something called Species 37."

"Copy that Shepard, FayLynn and I will keep a close eye on the colonist's- look out!" Shepard heard an explosion over the comm and then some crackling before the connection went dead. The Commander cursed and threw open the Mako door quickly, her footsteps brisk as she made her way back to the scientists; Lizbeth Bayhem not far behind. She had found the young woman hiding from the geth and remembered one of the Exo-Geni scientists, namely Lizbeth's mother, asking Shepard to find her daughter.

"Shepard, look!" Lizbeth whispered urgently and waved the Commander over to where she was crouched. As both women crouched down, Wrex and Tali not far behind, they saw one of the senior Exo-Geni members and representative, Ethan Jeong, shouting at the other scientists. Last Shepard had seen his mental state seemed a bit unstable.

"You can't do this Jeong!"

"Shut up, everyone just shut up! Let me think!" Lizbeth looked over to Shepard in confusion and fear in her eyes. She was afraid for her mother and the others.

"What's going on?" But before the Commander could answer the question her blue eyes snapped back to the scene before them at hearing Juliana Bayhem's voice. It was strong and indignant in tone.

"You can't do this Jeong! You'll never get away with it!"

"Get her out of here!" Jeong rounded on the his opposer, Juliana, and signaled for the older woman to be hauled away; probably to dispose of her. But before anybody could make a move to drag her off Lizbeth jumped out of cover and ran towards her mother yelling.

"Get off of her you son of a bitch!"

"Lizbeth!" Juliana ripped her arm out of a guards grip and raced towards her daughter, wrapping her arms around her child's waist and pulling her close. Unfortunately this also gave away Shepard's position and she had no choice but to comply when Jeong spotted her.

"Damn it! Come out where I can see you! All of you!" The Exo-Geni leader growled and had his guards train their weapons on the Normandy team as they walked out from cover. Wrex grunted and narrowed his blood red eyes at the human, meanwhile Tali just simply cocked her shotgun. When they finally stopped in front of Jeong, the scientist sneered and pointed a finger in the Commanders face.

"Hah, Shepard. Damn it! I knew it was too much to hope the geth would kill you. That being said, I just found some interesting facts about you in the Exo-Geni database. I know what happened to your squad on Akuze, death follows you, and we don't need your help here." Jeong's movements were erratic and his eyes ablaze with irrationality. Shepard knew that she needed to diffuse the situation soon before it escalated to dangerous levels. To show that she meant no harm the Commander lowered her voice a bit to normal levels, trying not to push the scientist over the edge.

"Look Jeong, we can talk this out. Nobody needs to get hurt."

The man in question shook his head and lowered it a bit, almost in defeat. "You don't understand, it's not that easy. Communications are back up...Exo-Geni wants this colony purged."

"This is a human colony, Jeong. You can't just re-purpose us!" Lizbeth stood slightly in front of her mother defiantly and practically hissed at Jeong, though he did little to stop her. At this point he was just spitefully pointing out the facts of what he knew was now happening.

"It's not just you. There's something here far more valuable than a few colonists." At hearing this the Commander narrowed her blue eyes dangerously and crossed her arms, expecting to get more information out of Jeong. "The Thorian."

"The What?" Lizbeth's mother sounded genuinely confused at the name and turned to her daughter as she began wringing her hands nervously.

"It's a telepathic life-form living under Zhu's Hope. It's taking control of all the colonists there...Exo-Geni knew all along." Obviously feeling ashamed of being apart of this entire situation, the younger woman immediately cast her eyes downwards.

Juliana gasped in shock and rounded on the one man whom had been trying to control everything, but failed in the end. "You won't get away with this, Jeong." Though he was currently under siege, Jeong seemed unimpressed and shrugged; speaking up like his words still mattered.

"So you keep saying, but nobody's going to miss a few colonists." Shepard's anger flared at hearing him knock aside countless lives like they were nothing, but she kept her composure and let diplomacy work its magic. Sometimes she hated having to act so collected in the presence of scum like Jeong.

"Think about the big picture here Jeong. These colonists and this colony are packed with potential; they serve as a breakthrough and can bring about countless promotional opportunities."

"What? Opportunities after this mess?! How!"

"Zhu's Hope will serve as a symbol for other colonies out there like it and prove that humanity has the will to recover from alien attacks such as this."

The Exo-Geni leader seemed to pause at this and ponder the thought, meanwhile Juliana Bayhem stepped forward and voiced her own opinion. While it was not actively hostile her tone was not completely approving either.

"I understand what the Commander is trying to say, though I do not completely agree with her. This is an opportunity Jeong." The man in question seemed to hum in slight agreement and sighed in what seemed to be resignation, but there was still the matter of what to do with the now hostile colonists.

"Even if you are right, how the hell are we supposed to get past the colonists without killing them now? We have no choice but to eliminate them!"

"Maybe...but we can't just go about wiping out the whole colony can we? What about the Thorian? If The Thorian dies then the colonists should be free from its control!"

"Hmmm, that should work. But that still doesn't stop them from firing and attacking Shepard while she tries to reach the creature." Both the Commander and Jeong furrowed their brows in thought at this dilemma. Maybe killing them was the only option.

"What about nerve gas!" Everyone turned to look at Juliana with surprise at her outburst, but then listened intently as she continued to explain. "Shepard, you can arm your grenades with this nerve gas to disable the colonists and knock them out without hurting them."

The Commander felt relief wash over her at the stroke of luck. She really didn't want to exterminate a whole colony because of Exo-Geni's screw up, and now she didn't have to. Taking the upgrade from the elder Bayhem, Shepard handed packs of the nerve gas to her squad mates and had them arm the grenades while she thanked the scientists, promising them that she would end this horror and get everything back to the way it was; if it could ever be that way again.

* * *

Fists pounded relentlessly on the airlock of the Normandy, the possessed colonists trying to force their way in to the reinforced spaceship. Fortunately for Kaidan and Garrus, the two who had been guarding the ship, they had enough time to get inside before they reached it; but after locking themselves inside they realized something. Neither FayLynn nor Ashley had shown up or commed them in the past half hour. At first Garrus had talked about storming through the group and forcing his way to them, his worry taking over, but Kaidan soon dismissed the thought and tried to calm the turian down.

"I know you're worried Garrus, but if the colonists have weapons then we'd be over run before we could get through them; and you heard what Shepard told us, we can't hurt them. She'll be through here soon enough with the nerve gas."

"But what if she's too late! For all we know the girls could have been hurt or..."

"I'm sure their fine, Garrus...and both Williams and Daye are smart enough to look out for themselves in a pinch." Walking a bit closer to the turian the Lieutenant placed a hand on his shoulder and patted it a few times in reassurance. He knew who the alien was worried about and he also understood how hard it was to think about the people you care for being in danger. "She'll be okay, trust me."

Kaidan received a very stressed and tight mandible nod in response. Garrus knew that the human man was right, and he knew that it was silly to worry over Fay's safety because she was an exemplary agent and soldier...but he couldn't get the thought of her being injured out of his mind. That was, until they began to hear feedback coming in over their comm followed by a hushed voice. Neither Garrus nor Kaidan could tell who it was at first. "Normandy squad? This is team Firewall-oh forget this! It's FayLynn, are you guys safe?"

"Fay? Are you okay, are you hurt?!" There was no missing the obvious worry in the turians voice as he answered Fay, and though she did like hearing that he was thinking about her safety she still felt her ears burn in embarrassment. She tried not to let her own emotion show through, though some still slipped.

"Uh n-no I'm fine. Shepard filled us in on the status of the colonists right before we saw them running our way and Ashley and I took cover behind some rubble. They didn't see us so we got out unscathed, but their searching the area like their looking for us...what's that banging noise?"

Kaidan was the first to answer this time, ignoring the glare he received from Garrus. "Some of the colonists are banging on the airlock door trying to get in to the Normandy. Garrus and I are both safe, but what's going to happen when they find you two?"

"They won't find us-Ashley move! Now!" Gunfire was heard over the comm accompanied by shouting and what sounding like rocks falling. The two men currently in the Normandy's airlock could do nothing but stand there and listen with bated breath, hoping that their teammates were safe. Though the worst part wasn't when there was all different types of noises coming in over their comms, it was when said comm went completely silent that they both began to worry.

"Team Firewall...Firewall come in...Ashley, Fay! Are you there!" Scuffling was heard a few seconds after Kaidan had shouted over the link, trying to get somebody to respond, and then slight panting as Ashley finally managed to get a few words out. They sounded stressed and there was a few coughs as she spoke.

"We're fine Lt, just had to uh...run from cover. The colonists found us, but luckily FayLynn put up a biotic shield and is keeping them from getting to us."

"Wait, how big is the shield Ashley? Is it blocking a doorway of some kind, or is it something that's enveloping you both?"

"It's like a big bubble shield."

Kaidan cursed under his breath and looked over to his turian counterpart with worry in his brown gaze. He knew as well as everyone else that Fay was a powerful biotic, but even he couldn't keep up a shield that strong going forever. Stopping stray bullets was one thing, halting the progress of several people physically was another. The Lieutenant knew that if he and Garrus didn't, or Shepard, stop the colonists soon then there was going to be a problem. Trying to think of a way to distract the colonists attacking Williams and Daye, Kaidan began to pace and come up with a plan whilst Garrus questioned Ashley.

"Are either of you injured?"

"Just a few scrapes here and there, our shields stopped most of the bullets." Ashley winced as she let the words 'most' slip through. With how protective Garrus was over the woman whom was currently concentrating on holding up a biotic shield, the Gunnery Chief knew she was about to face some backlash. Looking at Fay directly she flashed her an apologetic look as the agent looked at her with annoyance clear in her emerald eyes. Now not only did she have to keep up this shield, now she had to listen to Garrus Ashley to try and figure out what in what way specifically that she was injured; it was only a through and through on her shoulder. The wound was no longer bleeding and she had already had Ashley apply medigel so it really wasn't even that much of a problem at this point. Deciding to take matters in to her own hands so that they didn't both have to suffer through a lecture Fay called Ashley over.

"Hey, Williams. Press my link button so that I can say something please and thank you." Ashley complied and grimaced at FayLynn's disgruntled tone, pressing the button to activate her mic on the comm link.

"Garrus, we are both unharmed and fine. I'm holding up this shield for as long as I can and hopefully Shepard will be able to stop whatever this is in the meantime. Both you and Kaidan just need to stay in the Normandy."

"There's no way we're just going to sit in here while the both of you are pinned down!"

"You don't have a choice! We can't hurt the colonists and there's no way to get to Ashley and I without doing just that so deal with it! Now-Agh!" The agents sentence was cut short by a growl of pain as a bullet whizzed past her cheek and burnt the skin; apparently she let her concentration slip a little and a stray bullet had made it past the shield. That was what she got for trying to teach that stubborn turian a lesson. Garrus however immediately took that noise as the worst thing possible and was losing his mind on the other end of the comm.

"Fay!"

"Garrus, please. I promise you that I'm fine, it was just a stray bullet and it didn't even hit me. I was just surprised. I need you to trust me okay? We're going to be okay." When had she become so strong? All throughout their academy days and even working at C-sec Garrus Vakarian was used to being the protector, the 'guard dog' so to speak; but out here on the battlefield it was so much different. Even though they had been on the Normandy for well over a month now, new things still happened on every mission. Every fight was so unpredictable and every bullet could be the one...the last one. Though the turian had to admit he was proud of her for standing up like she was and decided that she had earned the benefit of the doubt.

"I...trust you. Just do me a favor and try not to get too banged up huh? Alenko and I don't want to have to be bandaging you two up for the next week."

"Hey, watch it Vakarian!" Ashley grumbled in to the comm and let her irritation show at the comment. Fay paid them both no mind and retreated in to her own thoughts and focus, the shield was becoming harder to maintain. She could feel the pressure of the colonists as if they were pressing against her amp and it was quite unpleasant, but she couldn't stop. Grunting only slightly FayLynn pushed her biotics harder, her body flaring up with a deep purple color, and reinforced the shield a bit for extra precaution. Faintly the agent could hear Ashley conversing with somebody over the comm link, but she paid it no mind until the woman said something to her directly.

"Hey that was Shepard. She's on the sky bridge now and is headed our way with a gas to knock the colonists out, but she also said to look our for these weird zombie things. Said they're being controlled by this Thorian thing."

"Right. Thorian. Zombies. Got it." Sweat that had begun to bead up on Fay's forehead started to slowly run down her face, dripping off of her chin. The Gunnery Chief noticed this and her eyebrows pulled down in worry behind her helmets visor; the biotic woman had been holding up this shield for about fifteen minutes now. It had to be taking its toll.

"Are you okay Daye?"

"I'm fine."

"If we need to run-"

"I can handle it!"

Maybe it was because she felt responsible for her teammates safety only because everyone else was always looking out for her that she responded so harshly. Her friends and teammates always put their lives on the line for her, so now it was time to repay the favor. FayLynn would stand tall even if it hurt her, she would protect Ashley and prove that she wasn't going to sit by and be a burden to the team, and she was going to prove that she wasn't afraid to be who she was anymore. The time of fear was no more. But even as she kept saying this and other courage boosting sentences her strength was indeed slowly waning, and no mater how hard she tried she could not stop it. That was the toll that biotics took on the body. They slowly drained you of strength and stamina until you could no longer hold yourself up, then you would be left defenseless and powerless; open for an attack. Weak prey.

No. She would not become prey for anyone ever again. Realizing that she still hadn't explained to Williams the reason for her abruptness, Fay cleared her throat and cut her eyes to the side to look at the other woman briefly, trying not to cringe at the disapproving look she was giving her.

"Sorry. I just need to do this."

"What, for me? Or for yourself." Ashley almost thought it cruel to say the words so spitefully, but she couldn't help it. She had seen that look that was currently in the biotics eyes before and the resulting actions were not beneficial to anybody except themselves. Courage was respectable, honorable, but reckless personal drive was dangerous. Knowing that she was not going to get a response the Gunnery Chief turned her back on her teammate and focused on keeping watch for Shepard, determined to not let the feeling of eyes burning into her back shake her.


End file.
